


Out of my League

by LotusGirl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-12-30 11:07:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12107394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotusGirl/pseuds/LotusGirl
Summary: Pre-Reveal- When Adrien breaks up with Marinette, she falls. Only to find herself enjoying the company and comfort of none other than Nathaniel.There should be angst, fluff, heros, and Nathanette.Don't like, don't read please.





	1. Beginning

Marinette sighed as she opened her eyes and found herself at her favorite cafe. Normally, she would be very happy to be at such a warm and cozy place, but not today. Maybe coffee was what she needed; hot caffine to help her recover. Marinette opened the door and walked inside, in a somewhat careless manner. Normally, she was very careful so she wouldn't fall and trip as always. But now, she was too upset to care.

The cafe was having slow business, so it was nice and quiet. A barrista whom she knew well gestured her to a seat up front near the register. He had a smile on his face, but it was kind of sad. "Hey Mari. What would you like today," the barrista said. "The usual," she responded. He got right to work on a mocha , the smell of coffee filling the air. While he was doing so, Marinette found herself beginning to doze. But everytime she closed her eyes, images of heartbreak appeared and she would snap back up. This happened a few times, 6 exactly, before the 6th time. This time, her coffee was sitting in front of her face. She sipped at the warm beverage, her body getting warmed up almost instantly. But that did nothing for the chilly feeling in her chest. It was ice-cold, fragile, sensitive, and could break at any given moment. _Why. . .Why. . .I-I don't understand_ , she thought and saw her mocha was gone. She had either drank all of it, or someone came and stole it. _An akumatized barrista was unhappy with the people viewed his coffee, and is stealing all the caffene in Paris_. It was a silly thought, but anything would do to distract her.

"May I have another," she asked, putting the change on the table for the one she had drunk, and the next.

Once she had put her hand down, however, another hand appeared next to hers. Marinette's eyes followed the hand up to the arm, and to the face. Staring right back at her, was a certain red-headed boy from her class. Nathaniel. She kept staring, Nathaniel almost jumped back, startled. "M-Marinette. . .! Um, hello," he said somewhat sheepishly. She held her hand up in a wave, greeting back," Hey, Nathaniel." His hand reached back up for the second cup, placed there moments before. He turned around and was about to leave, but Marinette grabbed the boy's arm. "Nath. . .would. . .would you mind staying," she spoke, which seemed to surprise him. "Uh, sure," he replied, taking a seat next to her. Marinette noticed his cup was marked," Hot Chocolate." _Does he not like coffee?_

"I didn't know you came here." For the sake of starting up a conversation with probably the most socially-inept person in the class.

"I-I like coming here when I finish projects. It's rewarding."

Oooh interesting! "You finished a project?"

He nodded.

"Can I see?"

Nathaniel opened up his messenger bag, pulled out a sketch book of the sorts, and flipped open to a particular page.

On that page. . .

Was a breath-takingly beautiful portrait of Ladybug. But at the same time, it wasn't Ladybug. It was someone else. She wore a black and red dress, an elegant one for sure. Like one that a royal would wear. Atop her head was a crown with ladybug jewels. Her eyes seemed to stare right at you, almost smirking. Half of her mask was missing. Marinette didn't know what to say. Her essence was captured perfectly. "Wow, Nathaniel. I-I don't know what to say. This is so beautiful, you imaged her so well," she praised him. "Although, I am a little confused as to why you didn't do the rest of her mask. I mean, it's not really Ladybug without it." Nathaniel just looked back down at his hands. "I'm not sure how to explain it, at least not right now to you. . ." She just smiled and realized: During this time of talking with Nathaniel, she hadn't thought about her sadness. She wanted to keep it up.

But it was then something started ringing. Nathaniel picked up his phone and almost looked disappointed. "I'm sorry Marinette, I need to leave," he said as he jumped off the rather high chair, grabbing his hot chocolate and started to walk away. "H-Hey! Mind if I walk home with you," she asked, running up next to him. He blinked and shook his head, smiling.

Nathaniel seemed a bit timid as they walked side by side, occasionally looking at Marinette and back down to the ground. She noticed his nervous behavior and asked. "Is something wrong?" He was a bit slow to reply, but wasn't that normal? You know, for someone like him. "I'm. . .confused." "Why?" Nathaniel turned to face her, kind of. He was somewhere in between the ground and her face. "You've never really wanted to 'hang out' with me before, and all the sudden you do? Besides, you're with Adrien now. . .You don't have a reason to hang out with me. . ." When he looked back up, she was crying. Marinette, the always-optimistic girl, was crying. He was confused. Was she pitying him, or was there something much deeper he wasn't aware of? Maybe both? Nathaniel was hesistant to hold her hand to comfort, but he did. Her tears fell on his finger tips and his eyes spoke instead of his mouth. _What happened, Mari?_ She could barely get the words out, and couldn't open her eyes. "A-A-Adrien. . .He-He bro-oke up with m-me. . .!" He looked almost as hurt as she was feeling. The red-head squeezed her hand a little tighter, asking," Why?"

"H-He said. . .I wa-wasn't the girl he-he tru-ly loved a-and--"

Before Marinette could say another word, he pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing her and suprising the bluenette. Without thinking and needing comfort, she wrapped her arms around him too. Nathaniel said softly," If Adrien could break up with you, he's heartless. He has no idea he's missing out on one of the most amazing girls in Paris." It took her a bit to analyze what he just said. He called her amazing, but also Adrien heartless. Nathaniel didn't seem angry as he said it, so maybe it wasn't just rage saying that. He wasn't _completely_ heartless. But maybe right now, she was being needy, and he was being a little bit selfish. They let go of each other, and he looked up at her with sad eyes. "Marinette, you deserve to be happy. But you shouldn't be hung up or negative about Adrien. You. . .can just be friends again."

Nathaniel looked like he was about to touch her shoulder, but he stopped and looked away. "I-I should probably get going. . .Don't want to keep my parents worried." She nodded and said, trying not to let her voice break," I'll see you tommorow?" "Yes." He walked away, and she did as well, in the opposite direction. His words echoed in her head, playing on repeat. But she pondered how Nathaniel had given her such solid advice? As far she knew, Nathaniel had no friends. He was always hiding, and clearly wasn't very good at socializing. The red-head was always like that, as they've been put in the same class for many years and she noticed from time to time his loneliness.

However, admittedly, she didn't know he was there about 98% of the time.

For such a long time, being Ladybug and Adrien were the primary things that ran through her mind.

But now?

It was Nathaniel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel thinks about everything that just happened.

_Did that really happen? Or was I dreaming?_

Nathaniel sat on the edge of the bed, thinking about _everything_ that happened. Marinette, the love of his life for years, actually wanted to be around him. She was single, without Adrien. But also heartbroken. His eyes stared at the countless pictures of her scattered around the room, as well as the numerous posters that covered every surface except the floor. He knew she loved Adrien, that he was on her mind constantly, and her nervous behavior around him. When he realized it, it hurt. Nathaniel was living a one-sided love, but that didn't stop him from loving her. After all, how could someone just _cut off_ how they felt about someone? Well, at least _he_ couldn't. Not with someone like Marinette. She was clumsy, but wonderful. Beautiful inside and out. Thinking about her made his face burn, and made his body shiver. But it was a nice shiver. Conveniently, she enters his mind a lot. _Like, a lot a lot._

He _spoke_ to her. They held a _conversation_. They made _eye contact_. He _hugged_ her. He called her _amazing_. Normal people would be celebrating at such progress. Nathaniel, on the other hand, was burying his face in the pillow in his arms, squeaking with a burning red blush. At the same time, his heart was getting chipped. Marinette was crying. She was so upset over Adrien dumping her. It hurt his heart to see her like this. He wished he could make her happy. The same way Adrien once did. But he was the exact opposite of Adrien. He was Nathaniel: the short, shy, red-head who _wasn't_ the face of modeling companies everywhere. Nathaniel would probably die of anxiety if people took his picture. Adrien had friends, despite still being somewhat knew to school. Nathaniel, on the other hand, could barely talk to anyone and was always sitting alone.

Yup. Opposites.

The only thing they really had in common was that they both watched anime, but they didn't like the same genres. Adrien was more interested in the stuff like psychological horror, and Nathaniel had interest in romance and slice of life, with the occasional action. No scary stuff, please. He didn't like it. Nathaniel picked up one of his more recent drawings. It was of Marinette, obviously. When he had drawn it, the rain was just beginning to let up. Marinette was on the other side of the park. She closed her umbrella and a few droplets of rain had fallen on her hair. At that moment, she almost looked. . .sparkly. Shiny, like a precious jewel. Nathaniel wanted to capture that moment on the page, keep it with him forever. It had taken quite a while for the colors to come out the way he wanted them to, but when they did, it was totally worth it. Every drop of her beauty got on the paper, and it made him happy.

_CRASH!_

_THUMP!_

"AH!"

And it was at that moment Nathaniel fell flat on his face, right off the bed.

"What was that," he asked no one in particular. He stood up and opened the window, peering into the outside world. From the looks of it, someone threw, or let, a car into a store shop window across the street. Actually, a lot of windows were broken and shattered. Thankfully, none anywhere near him. Ladybug and Cat Noir were helping victims out of the shop. The owner hugged Ladybug in thanks for helping him out. She smiled, but it looked. . .forced. Unlike most times when she saves others. Although, she tended to look a bit awkward when smiling for a camera. But this wasn't awkward. It looked like she was trying really hard to smile. Until she turned and saw (somehow) his mess of red hair. Ladybug gave small smile, before running with Cat Noir, probably to find an akumatized victim. What a heroic girl. Besides Marinette, she was another muse of his. If we're being honest, she's the muse of a lot of artists out there. Virtually, everyone liked her. Ladybug was one of Paris's heroes.

But she was unaware of a few things.

One, she was unaware of just how many people had a major crush on her.

Two, she was unware how many people could see the pained expression on her face right now.

And three. . .

She was unaware Nathaniel knew she was Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have trouble finding Nathanette fics (or nathanette content in general) that are accurate to the characters in canon, and don't have anything that have to do with Adrien.
> 
> So with this fic, I'm just going to throw together all of my Nathanette fantasies and hope it somehow ties together and makes sense.
> 
> Because I believe very strongly that if you don't like something or something doesn't carry the stuff you like, such as in the fandom, you should act on that and contribute.
> 
> Actual Author's Note: Adrien breaks up with Marinette because I'd feel bad if Nathaniel was happy but Adrien wasn't. But this is pre-reveal because I feel like Adrien wouldn't be 100% happy with just Marinette, as opposed to Ladybug, so it makes more sense with the plot of the story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette resolves the break-up with Adrien.

"Marinette! Your alarm's been going off for 15 minutes, you'll be late!"

Marinette lazily climbed out of her bed, still sleepy. Tikki didn't even get up, she was sleeping on the pillow still. She yawned and stretched her arms, and looked at the wall. It was previously covered in pictures of Adrien, same as her desktop. Now, her desktop was her and Alya, with all of the pictures in a box marked," EX" inside the closet. Friends don't obsess over eachother, right? At least not normal friends. Nathaniel's advice was still burning strong in her mind, and she was determined to follow it. Just. . .be friends with Adrien. No anger or sadness. Just friends. And that was what she was going to tell Adrien today. She choose the usual: a white shirt, a grey jacket with a white and pink inside, along with pink jeans with flats. In the past, Marinette saw girls really dress it up really fancy and nice to show their ex-boyfriend what they were giving up and make them guilty. But she didn't find that nessicary. Adrien already loved someone else more than her, and over a reletively long time, she learned to accept it.

Kind of.

Marinette picked up Tikki and put her inside her purse, pulling her school bag over her shoulder and walked downstairs.

Now, she would have just walked straight out the door. But her mother had to intervene. She asked," Aren't you going to eat breakfast? You know, there's a study that show that students who eat breakfast do better in school." "Really?" Sabine nodded and handed her what she thought was an apple. "Why are you in such a hurry this morning," she asked. The daughter replied," I have something I need to do before school starts. Anyway, thanks mom," Marinette said, giving her mother a kiss before leaving.

It was then she realized it wasn't an apple; it was a tomato.

How her mom managed view a tomato as an apple was beyond her.

_It's okay, I like tomatoes too,_ she thought, taking a bite out of the fruit.

\-----

Nathaniel's morning was happening a bit differently.

In reality, he didn't sleep at all last night.

The thought of Marinette kept him up. Every time he felt his eyes began to droop, she walked up to him and forced his eyes to snap open. Sleep just standing there behind them, taunting just like Chloe. It was a very bittersweet experience. One one hand: It's my wonderful muse! On the other: Gosh darn it I can't sleep why am I here. Nathaniel looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. There were dark rings under his eyes, and his skin was paler than normal. Maybe no one will notice, he thought. People often didn't notice him, and he was thankful for that. Although, if Marinette started talking to him today, she was bound to notice and ask. Maybe if he wore sunglasses or a hoodie instead of his jacket. . .? No, if anything, it'll draw more attention to him for changing his usual, no pun intended. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he got.

Not wanting to fret anymore, he just dabbed on a bit of concealer under his eyes to hide the rings.

_Anything_ would do to keep hidden.

The darkness wasn't visible anymore. Thank goodness.

"Nathaniel! If you stay in there any longer, I will literally drag you out of the bathroom and all the way to school in front of your classmates," his mother shouted. She didn't normally yell like that, but she was being reasonable. He'd been in there since 5 AM silently screaming about his sleep-less appearance, which is the equivalent of crap. Well, Nathaniel thought it was. "Just a sec'!," he said somewhat loudly. He smoothed down his bed-head with his hands and made his way quickly out of the room and his mother greeted him with a head-pat. Nathaniel said," Good morning." The boy grabbed the yogurt cup off of the counter and used a spoon to stab a hole into the top. He didn't care if Juleka said it was creepy, it was what he preferred doing. "You certainly were spending your sweet time in there," she said, smiling at him. He almost choked. "I. . .Was just being more efficient than normal with. . .stuff." Nathaniel spent approximately an hour and 75 minutes than normal in the bathroom because he just looked horrible from lack of sleep.

_I never thought I would care this much about how I looked._

Granted, he never lacked this much sleep before on a _school_ night.

Mostly the weekends, really.

His mom caught one look at the way he was eating the yogurt before saying," You know, there's a tab you pull to take the foiling off, instead of poking it with your spoon?" Great, now his family was being judgmental about it. Nathaniel licked the rest of the creamy substance off of the spoon before dropping the container in the trash bin. "Yeah, yeah, bye mom," he said, pulling his messenger bag over his shoulder and giving her a hug. "Have a good day at school, honey."  
\-----  
Well this was not intended at all.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Despite being early and living close to the school, she felt the need to run there. Why? So she could talk to Nathaniel and Adrien before lessons start. Nathaniel had run there as well, but so he could get to his seat without being noticed by everyone. There's a simple equation for this, actually.

(mr + nr) s x nl = Disaster.

Marinette running, along with Nathaniel, to the same location and not paying attention leads to catastrophe.

You can imagine what happened. . .

They crashed into each other.

Marinette fell backwards on her rear, but Nathaniel fell flat on his face. "Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said frantically, helping the boy back on his feet. "It's okay," he replied, but as he said it, he was touching his face. It was as though he was checking for injuries from falling. That makes sense: he did fall pretty hard. "Are you okay, Marinette? You were running awfully fast to be both early and close to school," he asked. Nathaniel was more than aware of Marinette's constant tardiness; everyone was. So this was very strange for her. She gave a somewhat nervous laugh and whispered," I'm going to follow your advice and tell Adrien we're just going to be friends now." He smiled. She was both listening to his words, and forgiving Adrien. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. Nathaniel followed her inside the school and watched her look for the blonde model. In the past, she was eager to look at the "love of her life". But now, she just had a piece of ergent news to tell him. To put the past behind them.

He noticed Adrien the minute he walked in.

Much like his first day of school, when the students all saw a pearl amongst the swine.

Marinette didn't see him right, away, as she was looking in the opposite direction.

With hesitation, Nathaniel gently tugged on a hair that stuck out from her pigtails to get her attention. Once the attention was obtained, he pointed towards Adrien. She looked nervous. "W-What if I'm not ready to tell him? What if he doesn't agree to keep a peace-pact with me? Or if I start crying again," she asked him. He gave her a thumbs up and responded," You'll be fine." Who would've though one of the quietest classmates had the strongest advice and support to give? Marinette nodded and calmly, note, calmly walked towards Adrien. She looked so much more normal like this, more authentic. Not like a love-struck psycho. Adrien was talking to Nino and Alya. The latter two seemed to be listening closely to his words, while the former seemed to look as though he was living a dream, very thoughtful and content. Was he talking about that girl he loved more than her? Marinette gently tapped Adrien's shoulder, snapping him out of what he was talking about. Nino and Alya suddenly looked _very_ tense. They must have been told about the very tragic breakup.

"O-Oh! Um, hey, Marinette. . ."

Marinette took a silent deep breath and held out her hand to shake his.

Adrien looked as though he were expecting something more. . .drastic.

"I just wanted to let you know. . .I would be happy being your friend," she said.

He smiled and shook her hand. "Same here."

Alya and Nino looked content now. Glad to see their friends not at each other's necks or on an emotional ship wreck.

During that instance, the bell had rung.

Marinette almost skipped to class, feeling such a weight off of her chest. When she neared Nathaniel, they gave a mutal smile and thumbs-up. Today had been a victory so far, and well seized. She felt excited. She didn't hold a grudge of any kind against Adrien, and were even friends now. Even better, she had Nathaniel by her side. Oh, if only she knew how happy that made him! To have his beloved Mari by his side without feeling awkward or nervous! It was practically a dream come true, and he didn't want to wake up. He hoped Marinette didn't want to wake up either. It hit him like a ton of bricks that this was reality. Nathaniel was very tempted to pinch himself. But that would look quite strange, wouldn't it? He took his seat in the back of the classroom, watching Marinette sit behind Adrien and Alya. She could be seen perfectly from this angle. He could watch her all day.

And Marinette could smile all day, now that her love life has been resolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 comments, 15 kudos, 1 bookmark, and 150 hits before posting this chapter. I am impressed. Apparently, I can English (. . .says the girl in honors English o_O) I'm more of an artist than an author, to be honest (and strangely, I've been writing fanfiction longer than I've been drawing.)
> 
> Depending on how many chapters this will take, and if I don't delete this at any point, this may become a series.
> 
> Like, an interconnected series.
> 
> Everything's linked together.
> 
> That kind of series.
> 
> I'm most definitely glad people enjoy my weird shipping fiction, and that's what really matters.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel draws Marinette, asking so many questions about her.

Nathaniel's eyes almost drooped as the class went on. Miss Bustier just went on talking about fairy tales, it seems. He didn't care too much for most fairy tales, as a lot of them seemed to resemble each other. Especially in princess fairy tales. There's a princess, some villain who hates the princess and wants them dead or cursed, and the prince comes along, kisses the princess, and everything is okay and they get married. It's very cliche. Although, he did fancy the ones that strayed from the typical mark. Like the Little Mermaid. That princess had her heart broken by the prince. That bit used to make him sad, because no one should have their heart broken like that. But now, he saw differently. That prince clearly didn't love the mermaid as much as he claimed, and maybe the mermaid was to find a new prince in the afterlife. One who truly loved her. In ways beyond her physical appearance. That thought made him smile.

And it made him think of Marinette.

His cheeks were painted pink, no pun intended. He was about to drift back into a land of daydreams, when Miss Bustier said something he wasn't sure he heard. . .

". . .Nino and Alya, Alix and Adrien, and finally Marinette and Nathaniel."

Wait, what?!

Nathaniel suddenly wished he was actually listening to the lesson. He didn't know why their names were being paired up. He only knew _he_ , Nathaniel Kurtzberg, the stuttering red tree stump, was getting put with _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ , the beautiful, kind, and courageous image of perfection. The bell rung. Had the day gone by already? He supposed that's what happened when you spend most of it with your mind wandering in just about every direction. Nathaniel put his sketchbook inside the bag, carefully as to not harm it or the drawings inside. The very thought made him shiver. He walked down the steps outside the classroom and saw Marinette was waiting for him. It most likely had to do with what the teacher was assigning names together for, but he was still puzzled as to what it was for. He suddenly felt anxious. He didn't want to look air-headed by not knowing what he was supposed to be doing. Or what they were doing. Or really anything. She started talking once he reached the bottom step. "Do you want to work on the project later, Nathaniel?"

"W-What?"

Crap.

Well, now there was no dodging it.

Marinette giggled. "The project, silly. Were you paying attention in class, or were you day-dreaming again?"

He gave a nervous laugh, blushing over his obviousness.

She patted his back, walking him out of the school and explaining their assignment. "Miss Bustier is having us analyze a fairy tale of our choice, and then we'll do a presentation on it." Nathaniel felt knots forming in his stomach. He hated class presentations. Getting up in front of the whole class and talking about some project for more than 5 minutes? No, just no. Way too scary. Especially with jerks like Chloe and Kim there. He felt like they could see all of his flaws, like they came out and are standing in front of them, waiting to be mocked. Marinette petted his head, saying," It'll be fine, Nath'. I'll be doing the presentation with you, so it won't be so bad. You can trust me on that." Nathaniel felt his heart skip a beat. She hadn't called him that in years. . . and it felt nice to be called that by _her_ again. He nodded. "Okay, I'll trust you. Only if we do well on the project." Marinette gave a frown in amused disappointment. She was so chirpy, and it was delightful. Absolutely an afternoon's delight. No wonder people liked her so much. Well, apart from Chloe and Sabrina.

They didn't like a good chunk of people since they were such snobs.

\-----

They agreed to meet and Marinette's dwelling for the project.

Nathaniel didn't want to say it out loud, but he wasn't willing to let Marinette see his organized chaos, that his mom called "a mess".

Because clearly, if his family viewed it as a "mess", other people probably would too.

Even if he didn't nessicarily think so.

He had a few hours before they were to meet up, so the first thing he did was to go home and actually check if he had all the materials he needed for said assignment. Just like her, Nathaniel had the tendency to forget things. Thankfully, nobody ever noticed. He unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Both of his parents were at work, so as of right now, it was just him. The boy walked down the hallway into his bedroom, and what'ya know it, the one thing he actually needed was sitting there on the bed: his textbook. Specifically, an English textbook. He sighed with relief, putting the book in his bag. Now, Nathaniel originally planned to just get the darn book and leave, so he could draw a few things at the park on his way to Marinette's. But then he saw his journal sitting on the desk. Every time he saw it, he contemplating just leaving it, or taking a moment to just _spill_ everything from his head on to the pages. Nathaniel hesitated, reaching for it.

His will-power kept him from writing.

_Not now_ , he thought. _Not before seeing Marinette._

Nathaniel left rather quickly, eager to start drawing in the park.   
\-----  
The park was great.

It was quiet today, not a lot of people. Perfect for drawing. He pulled his sketchbook out and started sketching his muse again: Marinette. Sometimes it scared him how much he drew her, and how well he did it when she wasn't even around. Half of her was normal Marinette, but the other half was Ladybug. Nathaniel pressed the eraser against his lip, curiosity entering his mind. _What happened when she became Ladybug? What does she use?_ The only things she wore as both Marinette and Ladybug was her earrings and ribbons. But the earrings were black as Marinette. They were red and black as Ladybug. Are the earrings turned off at that point? No, he thought. There had to be more to it than just that. Something helped her become Ladybug, and granted to her the new powers and abilities she had. When their classmates were akumatized, a butterfly helped them. Although, something that seemed to happen somewhat consistently was that the victim didn't remember what happened in that akumatized state. He certainly didn't. One moment, he's walking down the hallway to Mr. Damocles's office, the next he's in Chloe's bedroom, looking at Ladybug and Chat Noir.

It was then he figured out Ladybug was Marinette.

You know, after getting a close-up of her in person.

Knowing his crush was also a courageous hero of Paris only made him love her more.

Nathaniel frowned a bit, and erased a little mistake in the picture. He only knew about being a victim from what others told him, but even that didn't help. But, Marinette had told him he was so much more. . .bold and confident as a villain. Something he most certainly wasn't. If only he could be so confident as to maybe. . .perhaps ask her out on a date? Nathaniel's face burned at the thought, but he almost liked it. In reality, he'd been working up the nerve to ask her out, and maybe even confess his love, for some time. But, he just couldn't. It was scary, the thought of rejection or others seeing him. He started to shade the picture, starting with the eyes. The eyes just felt the most important. After all, Marinette's were one of a kind; a beautiful bluebell. His mother always told him the eyes were a window to the soul, so what did that say about Marinette?

It meant she was strong. Both mentally, and physically.

He couldn't agree more.

The boy lightly drew the highlight and twinkles, shading around them to create the iris. Don't forget the shadow, he thought, darkening the grey at the top. What pretty eyes, Nathaniel thought before moving on to her hair. Marinette had dark hair, so it was best to shade darkly without a lot of highlight. Pressing hard, he started a sketching motion from the ends to the scalp, watching the tips of the lines get lighter as his pencil came off the page. He liked the fading. It looked more natural that way. Nathaniel continuously sketched the lines, the tips getting darker every time, almost rapidly. Now, he couldn't be careless. One wrong line and it could very well ruin the entire picture. He knew this all too well from previous mistakes. Then, he pondered if he could make her hair even darker and even prettier if he had his ebony pencil. But, he didn't have his ebony pencil, so he couldn't know now. Soon, her hair was shaded and highlighted in it's beautiful darkness.

Next was to shade her skin where it had been shadowed.

Nathaniel lightly shaded in her face, under her bangs, above her eyes, and on the jaw line. The human's face highlight resembled that of the letter "T". He heisitated when he came to her lips. His face pink, he colored the grey shadow on her mouth, remembering the rather shiny appearence of it. Did she wear a gloss on top? Chloe's and Alya's seemed very matte in comparison. He stared at the page. What he wouldn't give to kiss her just once! To make sure she knew how much he loved her, without the words that made him sufficate, from his lack of ability to use them. The temptation to kiss the page was there, indeed it was. He wondered if Marinette ever kissed her countless pictures of Adrien, when she called him The Love of Her Life. So much curiosity surrounded her, and the desire to know the answers made him shiver in excitement. He traced the line of his mouth with the eraser of his pencil.

It was a smile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The document thing I use doesn't keep track of the amount of words I use, so I have a hard time knowing how much of a chapter I wrote. Next thing I know, the chapter takes up like a third of what was already written. And I keep all the chapters I write under one document.
> 
> I've been contemplating doing a Nathanette Fairy Tale collection when I'm done with this, as reading fairy tales is one of my favorite things.
> 
> Teaser for future chapters:
> 
> Angst. 
> 
> Cause it's been mostly Nathaniel dreaming of Marinette at this point.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel and Marinette work on their project, and Nathaniel writes out his thoughts on the day.

_You can do this, Nathaniel. Just knock on the door._

Nathaniel stood in front of the Dupain-Cheng's front door, trying to force himself to work up the nerve to just _knock. On. The. Door._ He had never met Marinette's parents before, let alone been to her apartment. (Although he has seen photos of them, and listened to the conversations about them). That didn't stop his brain from screaming at him. _I-I'll just knock quietly. That won't cause any problems, right,_ he thought. The back of his hand tapped the door with a light sound. Nathaniel waiting a short time, feeling a bit tense, when a short woman opened the door. She was still a bit taller than him, her blue hair cut short. _This must be Marinette's mother._ She had a kind smile, despite never having met him before. The woman welcomed him inside, saying," You must be one of Marinette's classmates! I'm so sorry, I don't know your name. What brings you here today?"

How people just _talked_ to each other as easily as she has shown is beyond him.

He looked up from the ground and saw a very tall, large stature man standing behind Marinette's mom. This had to be her dad.

They both seemed so friendly, the way they looked at him.

Nathaniel tried not to stutter as he talked.

He failed.

"I-I'm Na-athaniel. . .Me-e and M-M-Marinette were as-assigned to wor-work on a-a p-p-pro-oject together," he said rather quietly. Nathaniel knew Adrien already met her parents. He bet they didn't have any trouble hearing or understanding _him_. Gosh darn it. The boy flinched when he heard something upstairs crash. What was happening up there? It couldn't have been very good. Silently, he hoped no one was hurt. Her parents just sighed, smiling. "The clumsy girl she is." He could only assume after caring for a clutz like Marinette for 15 years, they were very used to this. Nathaniel almost laughed at the thought of how they would have reacted when she was little and tripping over everything. He turned his head and saw aforementioned girl standing there on the stairs. "C'mon up Nath'," she said, motioning for him to come up. Her father said," Make sure to show this rookie the ropes, Marinette!"

They both stood there, blinking looking at Tom.

Nathaniel figured it out 2 seconds before her.

They thought he was younger than her.

Marinette began to move her arms in panic, from her parents' misunderstanding. "Uh, no, Dad, he's not-- I mean, we're in the -- The, the, um, the same--" "W-We're in the same class. . .," he finished her sentence. All the sudden, Sabine and Tom looked very awkward. "O-Oh! I'm sorry. It's just that you're so. . .," her mom trailed off. _Short,_ he thought before Marinette dragged him up, away from her parents. She knew well already that the conversation wouldn't have ended in a good spot. After all, she was virtually the queen of all things awkward. Her room was far cleaner than his own, everything in a specified place. He had never been in a classmate's room before, let alone a girl's room. Marinette offered him a seat next to her by the desk, in which he gladly obliged. He started flipping through the textbook full of whimsical fairy tales, written so long ago. She looked over his shoulder, eyeballing the pages. Nathaniel started naming fairy tales.

"What if we did. . .The White Snake?"

She just gave a thoughtful look.

He continued.

"Cinderella?"

"Cliche."

"Briar Rose?"

"The Queen Bee?"

They laughed at the very thought.

"Snowdrop?"

"The Frog Prince?"

"The Snow Queen?"

"The Little Mermaid?"

Marinette turned to look at him, asking," How did that end again?" He seemed a bit startled by her question. Did she really not remember? "The mermaid gets her heart broken by the prince, and when she dies, she becomes one of the Daughters of Air. . .," he answered. She had a look of fascination on her face. "It's different, that's for sure. . .I like it." _Me too,_ he thought. Nathaniel wrote on the paper Marinette pulled out.

  
_The Little Mermaid: Analysis_   
_By:_   
_Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Nathaniel Kurtzberg_

  
He stopped dead when he realized she was staring at him.

Or rather, his hand.

She reached out and placed her hand on his, feeling his fingers. _What is she doing?!_ Now, pay attention: she was not _holding_ his hand. She was _touching_ his hand; like stroking a cat or something. Holding and stroking were two different things, and one of them was clearly better than the other. Apparently, Nathaniel's panic must have shown on his face because Marinette stopped when she saw it. "I'm sorry, it's just I noticed your finger and I wanted to see if it was real," she said. She was talking about the callous. On his middle finger. He hoped it wasn't that noticeable. Although, if she was checking to make sure she wasn't seeing things, it probably wasn't. But not enough. She pulled away and they sat in silence, writing and researching for the paper. It was at times like this Nathaniel wished he wasn't so awkward, especially around Marinette. Either the silence was bothering her, or she had a genuine question to ask, because it was she who broke the tense silence.

"Nathaniel. . .?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Why was the mermaid willing to give up so much for the prince?"

Not what he was expecting. But surely she already knew the answer to that, so it was definitely the silence that was causing her to ask.

"Well. . .be-because she loved him. S-She loved hi-him with al-all her h-heart. . .a-and wanted t-to be with h-him. E-Even if i-it meant fee-feeling p-pain, giv-giving up her 300 ye-years, and lo-loosing her voi-ice," he spoke softly. Marinette smiled at him, which triggered his own lips to curve into a smile. They finally started working _together_ , pin-pointing key ideas within the text, which parts they should write down. A few hours later, they had summed up the story. Nathaniel was just finishing up his notes when Marinette thought out-loud," I wonder how we should present it." He didn't look up from the paper when he responded," Why can't we just read it in front of the class?" The thought made him shiver. _Presenting,_ ugh. She hung her arm over his shoulder, making him flinch. "We get more points if we make it interesting, different from the norm," Marinette explained. He felt a bit anxious. Just reading a report to the class was nerve-racking. But making it _interesting?_ Like an act, or a song? More complicated? It was enough to make him sick from stress.

Especially the thought of screwing up.

With Marinette's (adorable) clumsiness, and his constant stuttering.

"W-We'll figure it out eventually," he said, trying to appear optimistic.

"Yeah, no need to worry! We'll have an idea in time," she responded.

\-----

Nathaniel lay on the bed, staring at the poster-covered ceiling. He was so still, one might believe he was paralyzed.

_Are you going to write about your date with Marinette?_

He blushed. It was definitely _not_ a date. At least, it certainly wasn't a date in her eyes. Marinette didn't like anyone in that way right now, with what happened with Adrien. Sure, they were friends now, but it takes most people a while to recover from heartbreak. Nathaniel pushed himself up, cracking his knuckles before picking up his journal and flipped to the most current blank page. The journal itself was black, just like his sketchbook. He was thankful for that, as the two couldn't be distinguished. People would think it was just another book of doodles. The paper was just a tad thicker than regular acid-free paper, so the ink wouldn't bleed through. He loved watching the pen flow across the page so smoothly. It was _extremely_ satisfying.

The whole reason he started writing in it was because of Marinette.

Because when you had an insane crush on someone like he did, you're bound to experience quite a few emotional bricks-to-the-face.

He needed a way to vent it, without the fantasies he contained in his art.

To keep it real, you know?

Some days, his writing was neat, organized. The words were full of love and dreams. The days he loved Marinette, and fantasied about loving her, and she returning his feelings. But sometimes, the writing was very scratchy. Scribbled, and sometimes droplets blurred the ink. The days where he just screamed his sorrow. Over Marinette's love for Adrien, his pathetic self, and being unable to tell her his feelings. Droplets of tears, from the nights he spent crying over her. Geez, he was such an emotional train wreck. Thankfully, today he was much more lighthearted.

_Me and Marinette are working together on a project about The Little Mermaid. Never before has luck worked for me like this. She's so. . .perfect, but human at the same time. She touched my hand, and it was almost thrilling: scary, but exciting at the same time. But, also confusing? I didn't know her true motives until after she saw how confused I was. Marinette noticed the callous on my finger, the one that occurred a few years ago? I was hoping she wouldn't, and it got so awkward. I wish I wasn't so awkward all the time, maybe then we could've spoken to each other directly after that, and not 15 minutes later._

_It became so interesting once we held a real conversation._

_We worked effectively together._

_Our project will be fine, I'm sure. But to earn more credit, we have to create a different presentation. Like a play, or something. It's scary to think of it. I can't talk, and Marinette's so wonderfully clumsy, the only way to go is down. So many things could go wrong, it was unheard of._

_I could only pray everything could be as smooth as they were in my mind._

_Marinette, on the other hand, was just so optimistic about everything._

_Maybe that's why she's one of the only students who haven't fallen victim to the akumas. She doesn't get so upset as easily. Such a positive atmosphere follows her everywhere, like rays of sunshine. Just another reason people like her so much._

_Just another reason why I love her so much._

_If I weren't so weak, and if she hadn't just been dumped by Adrien, I would certainly pursue her. But I can't. I'm afraid. Afraid of rejection, of the pointing fingers, of the teasing, of the pity stares. Marinette still needs time to heal. I would feel horrible for just flirting with her after having her heart broken. It would just remind her of Adrien. It hurts my heart to see her in pain. I don't want that for her. . ._

_Nathaniel sighed._

When will the day come when he'll be her partner, and he'll be the one to make her happy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, why it took me 2 chapters to cover one day is bewildering. Yes, everything that happened in the last 2 chapters was one day. This is the end of the day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has a dream that drives her crazy. NOTE: A lot of information from Google, so I don't own it.

_She looked around._

_She was surrounded by fields of flowers, and the ocean._

_She looked down, and saw she wasn't a human._

_She was a ladybug._

_Right next to her was what seemed to be a butterfly._

_A beautiful red butterfly, with blue "eyes" within the wings. It was small, it's body not much bigger than her own. They were rested on a white rose, that lied almost right next to the shore line. The rose was by itself, a small cleared area between it and the fields of flowers. Those flowers were all so colorful, every color of the rainbow. But this flower was pure white. All the other creatures weren't very close to them either. A turtle was floating in the water, a cat chewing on the grass, a fox sleeping in it's den, a bird feeding it's chicks in the nest, and another, larger butterfly flying away from them. It was only them. The two of them were very quiet, the red butterfly almost kneading on the petals. What should I say to them, the ladybug thought. It felt very awkward. Should she ask the other creatures for help? The butterfly seemed to enjoy this time of solitude, but at the same time. . .it felt sad._

_The ladybug gingerly stepped towards the butterfly, startling it. Their wings fluttering, as though they were communicating. Butterfly took a few hesitant steps towards Ladybug, gently squishing up next to her. They were both happy with this. It was nice._

_It was safe._

Marinette yelped as her head hit the desk, hard. She had fallen asleep while doing homework for a brief moment. What an odd dream she had during that time. A ladybug and a butterfly? So weird! Tikki flew towards her, as she was concerned. Marinette's confusion showed her on her face. "Is something wrong, Marinette," the kwami asked. She rested her head in her hand, looking at the unfinished work in front of her. "It's nothing, Tikki. It's just that. . I had a really weird dream. . ."

"What was it about?"

"Well, this ladybug and butterfly were on a rose, and the rose was away from everything and everyone else. At first, it was awkward because they were just _there_ , but then they started. . .flying? Or flapping? Their wings, and they got really close. They both liked it."

Tikki looked at her like she was crazy for approximately three seconds. Then she said," It can only be one of two things: It's completely nonsense, or it's symbolic about your life." Marinette figured that. If it was symbolic, _she_ was obviously the ladybug. But what was the rest? Who was that butterfly in the dream? What did the rose represent? What about all those colors? Thinking about it all made her head spin. It made her nauseous to think if the butterfly was _Adrien._ Not that she hated him now, but the idea of even potentially getting back together with him was scary. The tiny red creature prodded her cheek, telling her," Just don't think about it, Marinette. You should do your homework now!" Tikki was right. Just relax and do the work. Think about dreams later.

* * *

 

Marinette was sure of it now.

The dream _had_ to mean something.

That's why she was in the library on a Saturday evening.

It took her almost 2 hours to find what she was looking for, and that's with the help of Google and the library signs. Two particular sections had books she needed: Psychology, and Literature. _The Study of Dreams, Dream Dictionary, Metaphors, Similes, and, Symbolism_ , and _Symbolism in Literature._ Relatively thick books, and she hoped they would have some answers for her. Marinette took a seat at one of the tables, further away from everyone else than normal. Everyone else there were either intensively-stressed kids or nerds studying for their classes. She needed to concentrate; so she sat far away. The bluenette took out her college-ruled paper and started reading. So much information, four books, one girl, one dream. First, Marinette summarized the noticeable things that happened in the aforementioned dream, such as the ladybug. Second, she flipped through the pages until she found whatever little piece of information that was significant to her study.

Some things were harder to find than others.

Those things weren't as clear, they were vague.

Or, they had so many different meanings, it was difficult to pin-point what they meant.

But, eventually, she had a unfinished list of symbols.

 _My Dream's Symbols_  
_⦁ Ladybug: Good luck, luck in love, my alter ego_  
_⦁ Butterfly: Rebirth, Immortality, Blossoming, Leisure, joy._  
_⦁ White: Purity, innocence, virginity._  
_⦁ Rainbows: A covenant, hope, desire, lovers meeting, demons, healing, harm, passion, wild._  
_⦁ Oceans:_  
_⦁ Roses: Promise, hope, new beginnings._  
_⦁ Rose Thorns: Defense, loss, thoughtlessness._  
_⦁ White Roses: Purity, mysticism, a secret admirer.  
_ _⦁ Trees: Strength, beauty, stillness._

This was only part of the list. There were more left empty.

What could the ocean mean, Marinette pondered. She was about to grab one of the books when--

"Marinette?"

She jumped in sudden shock. Standing there, was Nathaniel. Holding his sketchbook in his arms. Of all the people to come over to her. . .it had to be him. It was a pleasant surprise, though. Marinette sighed in relief before pulling the book over her notes, to keep him from seeing. He looked worried before apologizing. "I-I'm sorry, did I scare you?" This boy was so nice, it's a wonder why he doesn't try to talk to more people. She smiled at him and said," Just a little, but it's fine. What are you doing here?" Nathaniel was relieved to know she was okay. "I-I saw you wa-alking in here a-and go-got curious. . .Y-You looked r-r-really serious a-about something." He certainly did stutter quite a bit, didn't he? She wondered how nervous he got on average out in public. "It's nothing important, don't worry about it." Marinette got up to return the books, realizing she needed to go home very soon. Nathaniel stood there, blinking, and watching her. Little did she know he photographed her list on his phone behind her back.

Curiosity killed the cat, so to speak.

He wanted to see what had grasped Marinette's attention.

Marinette had walked back toward the table, and Nathaniel shoved his phone back into his pocket. Snooping was detestable by others, wasn't it? She slipped her paper back into her bag and zipped it up. "M-Marinette, do you need s-s-o-omeone to walk y-you ho-home," he asked. The girl turned to respond, and noticed something. Nathaniel's eyes. They were the same turquoise color as the ocean in her dream. His eyes were so. . .pretty. Calm but with the same little sparkles as the water. At first, she was going to decline his offer. Now, she was more than willing to say yes. Something about him was just so comforting. "Actually, I would like someone to walk me home," Marinette said. Those eyes twinkled. Together, they walked out of the library and out on the sidewalk. She was very glad she had chosen to go to the library several blocks away, instead of the one at school. Glad about the time she gets to spend with Nathaniel.

The bluenette took a closer look at his sketchbook.

Why did he have it?

"Nathaniel, what were you doing before you saw me walk into the library," Marinette asked. He suddenly looked very shy, not making eye contact with her. Her interest peaked. Nathaniel managed to squeak out," J-Just doodles an-and sket-sketch-es." Doodling and sketching _what_ exactly? He had to be rather close to the library to have seen her walk in, and her facial expression. Marinette looked around, examining their surroundings. Truth be told, the area itself didn't have much in it: the library, a small fountain, and what she believed to be a shop for dresses and suits. Maybe he was day-dreaming again and drawing from his fantasies. What did he dream and think about? She rarely saw his art, on account of him being so secretive about it. The times she did see it? Forgotten, because she was so hopelessly in love with Adrien. Marinette got a glimpse into the shop as they walked. They really did have some pretty formal clothes in there.

Now, they were having a special.

A Ladybug gown, and a Cat Noir suit.

She remembered posing for the photo that they used for advertisement. Cat kept trying to _lean in_ , and her annoyance, with the addition of his flirting, caused them to have to retake the photo several times. Although, Marinette did have to question why it took the boutique so long to finally display the ad and outfits. They had taken the photo near-months ago, before she started dating Adrien. Note, they had already crafted the dresses and suits when they taken the photo, as well. "Those Ladybug gowns are really pretty, aren't they," she asked him without thinking. Nathaniel nodded in agreement. "I-I can't ima-imagine ho-ow long they too-ook to make. . ." The memory of that photo shoot really got her thinking.

Before she dated Adrien, Cat Noir flirted with her an awful lot.

While she was dating Adrien, Cat Noir backed off, not even calling her a nickname.

After the break up, he was flirty still, but not nearly as much as he was before.

How strange.

"I wo-onder how th-they did C-Cat Noir's ta-tail," he asked.

"I think they used a really long belt with a metal wire built in," Marinette responded. How else was the tail supposed to stay up? Otherwise, it'd just be hanging there. They did the same thing with his ears: Sewn fabric in the shape of little cat ears, and wire to keep them standing. The real Cat Noir didn't need those, but those whom wore the suits would need them. Nathaniel was intrigued by her knowledge of this craft, but yet again, just couldn't ask her. They both turned to say something, only to stop and laugh at their sync. Now, they were at the front door of the Dupain-Cheng's house hold. Marinette smiled and waved goodbye, Nathaniel mimicking her actions. The two of them parted ways, and she found herself almost _swooning_ over. . .Nathaniel?

Her steps were lighter with a hop.

Her eyes dazed in bliss.

Her mind and chest warm and fluffy.

Of course, her parents noticed her sudden behavior.

Sabine had a grin on her face as she asked," Well, aren't you happy today? Did something happen?" They already, too, know about the tragic dump of her previous relationship with _you-know-who_. To see their daughter suddenly so happy like how she was before had to be good news, and they wanted to know what was the cause. Marinette made a quiet sigh and said, still dreaming," Uh-huh. Sure~" She practically danced up the stairs, falling over in the chair, spinning. What was this feeling? It was. . .peace, serenity. Almost heavenly. With Adren, her heart rate skipped up several notches, feeling excitement run through her veins. The different feelings between Nathaniel and Adrien was like the difference between a roller coaster and a boat ride on the Seine River. One was exciting and adventurous, the other was calm and peaceful. People enjoyed both. She certainly did.

Right now, though, she favored that boat ride over the rollar coaster.

That boat ride's ocean-blue eyes.

Why?

Why did she like the feeling so much?

Just by being around Nathaniel?

_Do I like being his friend?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm amazed people are still reading this.
> 
> Maybe. If someone's reading this.
> 
> I had no idea white roses indicated a secret admirer when I started writing up the dream, so that got bonus points :)
> 
> (Today is a good day: The first kiss I draw and it actually looks good, is Nathanette. Yes!)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel paints Marinette's dream, and undergoes some drastic mood changes afterwards.

Paints of every color in pots sat on the floor in a circle.

A 58" x 28" canvas lay on the floor.

Brushes of different shapes and sizes stood dormant in a cup.

Nathaniel breathed, tying his hair back.

_I just have to paint this._

He pulled out his copy of Marinette's notes and smoothed it out on the floor. What interesting details it had. His own dreams revolved around he and his beautiful muse. Her's was much more abstract, and it truly pulled in his attention. It was something he _needed_ to bring to life on the canvas. Nathaniel started to mix different shades of blue and white for the sky as classical piano and rain played softly in the background. White noise to help him concentrate, no pun intended. A relatively large-tipped brush was dipped into the blue, painting the sky a shade of bluebell. _Just like Marinette's eyes._ It didn't take long for her to come invading his mind again. When did she _not,_ if we're being honest right now. He picked a smaller, softer brush for the clouds. As a child, Nathaniel wondered what it would be like to touch them. Now, he knew you _couldn't_ touch clouds. Still, it was a nice thought.

The red-head took out a fanbrush and swiped at the faint clouds.

In that action, the clouds were blended into the sky.

_Perfect._

Nathaniel washed out the brushes and started the fields and ocean. He started by painting a solid green patch covering two-thirds of the small area for the surface, the last third being blue. The blue was more like a light turquoise, truthfully. People have always said," Your eyes reflect the ocean, Nathaniel!" He never saw the ocean before in person, so he couldn't determine if they were telling the truth. The boy saw photographs and paintings, and the colors were pretty close. More shades of blue and green were added to the painting, creating values from shadows to highlights. Some white was reflected on the water, too. Brown, black, and white mixed in different spots on the lid he used for the tree. Trees grew upwards into many different little twigs and branches, so he had to use a much larger variety of brushes, from thick to thin, from soft to square. His fingertips carefully controlled the brush, making sure he didn't fall off course.

He wondered what type of tree it was.

Oak? Cherry? Birch? Acacia?

Maybe he should have asked what types of tree Marinette liked.

That would've helped.

Once the branches were painted, he took a jagged-cut sponge with a gradient of greens and yellows and started dabbing on the tree, where there might be leaves. After the preliminary leaves were set in place, Nathaniel took a regular brush with a dark green paint and painted little details. Shadows of individual leaves. Small blossoms with the white. From the amount of paint he was putting on the canvas, he would have to wait quite a while for it to dry.

Once it did, it was time for the hard part. . .

The roses.

A field of rainbow roses, to be exact.

He knew right away he wouldn't be able to put an intense amount of detail into the roses, that would take too long and too many things could go wrong.

So, Nathaniel tried something different. Instead of making detailed little roses with each petal a different color, he dipped separate sections of the brush into a different color, and did a simple triangular abstract rose design. It was far easier, and many more flowers could be done in a shorter amount of time. Plus, they still look like flowers. Of course, he still had to be careful and slow. It was the white rose he wanted to add detail to. It was essentially the most important flower. Thoughts crossed his mind. Oceans show stability. Trees showed growth and harmony. Roses indicated romance. So many colors meant passion, wild spirits. They stuck out. The white rose showed purity. . . and a secret admirer. His cheeks turned red at the thought. Grey shadowed the white, allowing more detail to show. The petals really seemed to pop, despite being one neutral, as opposed to so many different colored petals. He liked that. Now, for a ladybug and a butterfly.

What kind of butterfly?

The akumas were black and purple, but there couldn't have been an akuma in her dream.

Hmm. . .

He should keep the black, but separate purple to red and blue.

Keep it different.

The ladybug started from a simple red spot on the flower, to red with a black head, and black spots. Classic ladybug. The butterfly started with a small black body. He then painted fairly generic light red wings, and the same blue from the ocean was used to create an intricate design. Nathaniel wasn't sure if the butterfly really looked like that, but he just enjoyed doing it. A blue spade having a hole in the middle, and a design of curls and tiny circles and droplets. This was one pretty butterfly, all right. The ladybug and the butterfly looked good together. But the picture felt. . . empty. Nothing was happening, and there was only the two of them. Even if real life, there wasn't such an empty space in such a nice area of land.

He started adding little things to fill in the space.

Little fishes and a sea turtle.

A cat.

More butterflies and bees.

Birds.

Stuff like that.

They gave the picture more life, literally.

Nathaniel took his time washing out the brushes and picked up the canvas, taking a good look at the painting. One of his better works, for sure. That's what happened when your inspiration came almost directly from your muse. He read over her notes again. She was the ladybug in the painting, so who was the butterfly? Judging from the rose, it had to be some kind of boyfriend or significant other like that. Roses are romantic, right? It was then Nathaniel felt his heart ache. There was no way that butterfly was him. It was someone else. Definitely. There was no way Marinette could ever love him like that. Even if she never dated Adrien, never liked him. His self-love was dropping rapidly, and it was already pretty low to begin with.

He fell to the floor, painting in his arms, tears spilling over his face.

_Why. . ._

_Why can't she ever be mine?_

_I love her so much. . ._

He wanted to scream and cry his heart out, but his throat was already closed up. His voice was gone, his tongue had been cut out from the hurt. The only thing left was the feeling of sorrow, and his tears.  _I want to be the butterfly, I want to share the rose with the ladybug._ If only he knew how. Then, he'd jump for the nearest opportunity. Nathaniel wanted Marinette to know how much he admired her from a distance, how long he's wanted to embrace her, how many times he would tell her he loved her. He didn't need confidence; he needed a voice. Instead of being so quiet all of the time. The redhead didn't know how long he stayed like that, crying knelt on the floor. But by the time he was done, his eyes burned like fire. Nathaniel slowly pushed the painting back out, staring at the butterfly. He decided right then and there it was his goal to be that winged insect, her butterfly. _I strive to be like the colorful butterfly in her dreams._ Placing the painting on an easel in the corner, his mind was already clouded with thoughts.

Thoughts he would write down in the journal.

_No matter how many times thinking about Marinette makes my heart ache, I just keep loving her._

_I need to be the butterfly._

_The butterfly to her ladybug._

_Maybe she'll love me the way I love her. I dream of the days when we'll be together. When she knows how I've felt, for how long. When I wake up beside her and kiss her good morning. Hugs exchanged through the days, each one feeling so nice and warm. The thought of being loved back, in reality instead of fantasy. When we're. . .together. A couple? Dating? Or something more? I wish I had the strength to walk up and talk to her normally. The tongue to tell her I loved her. The mindset to keep from regretting it. The hope of her feeling the same way. I shiver at the thought, in a good way. If only I could keep all this doubt away from me._

_That certainly would be nice. . ._

Nathaniel found himself drawing out Marinette in his journal yet again. Inking in her hair and eyes. Hatching the shadows with his pen. It was still somewhat difficult to see what he was doing from the pain in his eyes. But it looked. . .kind of good? Maybe? On the same page, a small doodle was produced. Not just Marinette, but himself included. He was giving her a hug. She was hugging him back. Smiles on their faces. It gave him a small smile off the page. The happiness reflected off the page and on to his lips. His eyes drooped closed, dreaming of Marinette even more, feeling nothing else. At least, right now he didn't. If he were to wake up, he might wake up with ink or paint on his face and hands. Just let him enjoy himself right now. It amazed Nathaniel how he could go from a heart on the verge of shattering, to a cloudy heaven of bliss and Marinette. What time was it? What was Marinette doing now?

Sleeping?

He believed it was close to midnight (art certainly did take time, didn't it?).

That's probably why he felt sleepy.

Most people typically didn't stay up until 1 or midnight, at least not normal people.

He didn't want to know what those night owls did that early in the morning.

Although, if there was a tricky villain, she might be Ladybug: saving Paris with Cat Noir.

_As long as she's safe. . ._

_. . ._

_I can't wait to see her again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm mentioning Adrien an awful lot.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel comes while Marinette is babysitting.

Marinette could tell you from personal experience that watching a hyper five-year-old girl was not easy.

Especially when that five-year-old was Manon.

She couldn't even stop to think or breathe.

Why?

Because she was too busy trying to keep the pots and pans and just about anything fragile out of her reach, and failed in some cases.

Marinette chased the little girl around the room, yelling," Manon, put that back!" Manon obviously didn't listen, or didn't hear, and kept running around, clanging the pots and pans together with a bowl on her head. How was it even humanly possible for someone to have this much energy? Clearly, she wasn't human. Marinette was getting tired of chasing, and at that moment, she tripped and fell on the floor. As usual. Usual clumsy girl. Nothing to see here. It honestly amazed her that she wasn't covered in bruises on a day-to-day basis, especially after the amount of times she fell while being Ladybug. "Ugh. . .," she groaned and made an attempt to stand back up, only to get knocked back down by Manon. Tikki was just as annoyed, getting tossed around in Marinette's jacket. Did she eat sugar before coming here?

Knock, knock.

A soft knocking hit the door.

She immediately shot up and ran to the front door, dodging the little girl and opened aforementioned door.

To reveal Nathaniel, standing there.

It was at that moment she remembered.

Remembered that she and Nathaniel had planned to talk about their presentation.

Crap.

Nathaniel gave a shy smile," Hi, Ma-arinette." Marinette felt guilty for forgetting about him, and agreeing to babysit Manon. She was about to say hello back, but a certain 5-year-old ran straight into her back, nearly knocking her on to the unsuspecting visitor, and standing between her legs. Nathaniel didn't need to ask out loud, his facial expression (confused, and maybe a little annoyed)did all the talking. Marinette laughed nervously. "Sorry, I totally forgot we were meeting today, so I sort of. . .agreed to babysit this little angel." The last word was said through a strained grin. He looked uncomfortable, just a little. Why? Because Manon was staring at him. Something he didn't like to be a victim of. Manon actually looked almost disgusted or very ticked for some reason. "Who are you and why are you here," she rather rudely asked. It was the same as saying, get lost stranger. Clearly, her mood was because just a few moments ago, she was having "fun" with her babysitter, and now this person shows up and ruins the fun.

It was obvious he read that in her words.

Marinette was caught in quite the predicament.

They really needed to think about how to present the project, but she needed to watch Manon.

This was not good, not good at all.

Plus, Nathaniel has gotten to the point where he kind of looked like he wanted to die, oh my gosh will she ever stop staring.

So, he did something about it.

Nathaniel knelt down in front of the little girl, saying," Excuse me, miss, but would you be willing to share Marinette today? We really need to work together." "No!" Like magic, he pulled a blossomed rose out of nowhere and asked," Please? Surely, a smart girl like you realize someone as nice as Marinette must be shared with others." Nathaniel put the rose in her hair, and Manon was won over instantly. He intended to give the flower to his crush, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to follow through with it for some reason. Who would have thought it'd be a little girl she was watching? That was definitely a turn of events. Manon giggled and nodded. How he held such power over her bewildered Marinette. But who cared, she wasn't stuck in a terrible position anymore. She tugged her hair, asking," Manon, is it okay if we go to the park?" "Yes!" Marinette held Manon's hand as they exited the apartment and building, Nathaniel following them.

\-----

"Stay where I can see you, okay?"

"Okay, Marinette!"

Manon trotted to the playground to, well, play with some of the other children while Marinette and Nathaniel took a seat on a bench facing said grounds. He apparently had a thin, tiny sketchbook hidden in his jacket filled with some sketched ideas he had for the presentation. On the page he opened up to, there was a box with hanging papers, stick signs, and little pop-out characters. "F-First, I-I-I thought we-we could d-do a di-diara-rama of T-The Lit-Little Mermaid. . .," the red-head stuttered. How was he able to speak so clearly with a five-year-old, and immediately turn into a stammering mess with his classmate? She figured he'd be worse around strangers and children, not better. But, anyone could be surprising and shock the people around them if they wanted to. Marinette took the sketch and examined it closely. She was worried the project might get destroyed before the presentation, by either a person or some other cruel force of nature.

The bluenette turned the page as he explained the next picture.

Mini-them were standing beside a large square.

"I th-thought if tha-that didn't w-work, we c-could do a s-slide sh-show. . ."

She flipped the page.

On this one, she was seated on a stool while he was on the floor, staring at the sky. His cheeks flushed pink and suddenly became very quiet.

"A-A re-reenactment. . .st-story tel-telling. . ."

For a brief moment, Marinette questioned why he was the mermaid, when she realized it. Nathaniel wouldn't be able to tell the story without constant stuttering and probably trying to run away and hide. He wouldn't have to talk as much while performing, although he'd probably have to be blindfolded to do it. Maybe he was better at acting than talking; it was entirely possible. She almost laughed at the thought, believing the act would be humorous. Nathaniel would probably feel bad if people even chuckled while watching. Maybe it would be really good, something worth praising instead of laughing.

Something that would spark hope, sadness, and tears falling.

She wouldn't know; she'd never seen him act before.

"I think--"

"Marinette!!"

They both flinched from the sudden voice. It was Manon, who was tugging on her hand. She asked," What is it?" The brunette pointed towards the carousel, saying," Can we go on the merry-go-round? Can we, can we?" Marinette giggled and just before she could drag her away, she grabbed Nathaniel's arm and pulled him along. He was rendered confused for moments by this action. She lifted Manon on to the unicorn while Nathaniel, who's brain finally started functioning, took a seat behind them, in the ladybug. He wasn't a big fan of riding one of the horses, and would rather draw them instead. Once Manon was securely on the shiny ride, Marinette, instead of sitting behind Manon, sat next to Nathaniel. The redhead was made happy by her decision, and started sketching the horse.

She leaned in a little closer to watch, making him feel a little awkward.

His pencil moved so smoothly across the page, it was so satisfying to watch.

"I was thinking about the reenactment. . ."

"R-Really?"

With a nod, she added," I think you could be a wonderful actor for the presentation, especially after you 'entranced' Manon."

He looked away, his long bangs hiding his blush. "N-Not r-r-really. . .b-besides sh-she's just a k-k-kid. . ."

"I doubt that. To be honest, I was expecting you to be much more of a disaster in front of her than me," Marinette said, smiling.

Oh no, she acknowledged it.

Nathaniel just looked straight down at the paper, his face blocked away from Marinette's eyes.

She reached out and brushed the red locks away, saying," Aw, come on, don't be like that. I thought it was really cute the way you talked to Manon." How could he see half the time with his hair in the way, let alone draw? Why did he keep his hair so long? It had to make some things difficult for him. Did he ever do anything about it? She wondered how he would look if he actually did something to it. Nathaniel looked back up, smiling as though he was laughing, and said," Children are way easier to talk to than our classmates." Wait. . .

. . .

"Nathaniel, you didn't stutter!"

"W-What?! W-What do you me-mean?"

He didn't stutter just now, nor when he spoke to Manon.

Marinette bit back a giggle. "You didn't stutter just a minute ago! Or when you were talking to Manon! Does someone have something to tell me?"

Nathaniel smiled at this accusation. It was much more amusing when she was pointing at his speech than stealing a bracelet. He hid the smile behind the sketch pad. "I-I've been prac-practicing. . ." Practicing. It was more like a part of the truth than the full thing. The full truth was that after Marinette started "hanging" around him, he started meeting with the school counselor to help him control his stutter, so maybe he could have a normal conversation with her. It would have helped more if he knew how to talk to other people, like the counselor suggested, instead of remaining silent most of the time. But this was fine for right now.

Maybe in the future, he'll talk without it completely.

Just like his hopes of finally being with Marinette.

She looked down at his sketch. He really was a wonderful artist.

Suddenly, they felt the carousel stop. Had time gone by that quickly? She looked at the clock on her phone, and it had. Marinette had silently hoped it would last longer, but Mrs. Chammock would be going to the bakery soon to pick up Manon. She picked Manon up and whispered something in the bluenette's ear that almost made her drop her. "This boyfriend is way better than the other one!" Marinette laughed nervously," What? What boyfriend? Silly Manon!" She looked anxiously behind her at Nathaniel, who looked a bit confused. Thank goodness he didn't have any type of super hearing to have heard the whispers. It would have made him even more shy than he already is. Marinette booped Manon's nose, and said," Come on, we need to be at the bakery before your mom gets there."

"Bye, Nath'."

Manon waved him goodbye with her, and he responded with a sheepish wave.

Marinette held her hand as they walked back, her overall condition much calmer than before.

She watched the white rose in Manon's brown hair bob with her footsteps.

Why did he have the rose?

"Marinette?"

"Yes, Manon?"

"Will that boy be here the next time we play?"

A silence.

"Maybe."

"Yay!"

Marinette wanted the boy around, too.

Who else could she call to help her control the small beast?

At least, that's what she told herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While a majority of my school was at homecoming, I was at home, writing fanfiction. I was contemplating doing a dance chapter to fit, but my brain screamed," No!".


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette asks Nathaniel out to a very special party, and he needs help.

Nathaniel shivered as he walked to school.

The trees were beginning to change color, and the temperature was every so slowly dropping.

Fall was coming.

His eyes still burned from last night, still red.

Unlike his sleepless nights of black rings, he wasn't able to do anything about his red eyes.

For those wondering, yes, he was crying. But it was only loosely connected to Marinette, as opposed to directly as usual.

Nathaniel had read a book the previous night, after his mother told him to pick up a book and put down the pencil for once. He almost shouted blasphemy to her face, but he knew there was no reasoning with her. So he took a book from the shelf at random and started reading. It was a sort of fantasy. In the world of the book, everyone had these tattoos on their bodies from the day they were born, tattoos that glowed when touched by their soulmate. Upon meeting their soulmate, they could see the red string of fate. But, no one really, truly loved anyone until they found their soulmate. So, until then, they just found someone, touched their marks, and saw if they started to glow. In the story, a boy didn't follow this nature. He loved a girl with all his heart, and didn't know if she was his soulmate. The girl was desperate to find her soulmate, so she touched his back. This action resulted in severely burning him, very literally. The skin where she touched him was black and red and blue.

She saw this as a sign they weren't soulmates.

She virtually just left him to burn to ashes, for another boy who was found to be her soulmate.

That ending made him cry.

He never wanted to feel like that, never wanted Marinette to leave him.

It would have been less of a heartbreak if she just ignored him. Truth, he would have to watch her be with another man, but he would've have had to deal with the shattering truth that she wasn't his soulmate. That poor boy wasn't even the protagonist, and yet he felt so much sympathy for him.

_Why even put him in the book if she's going to hook up with someone else?!_

This wasn't the first book that made him cry like this.

There were so many others where the girl gets with one guy, that relationship dies, and gets with another, even though that first boy loved her so much.

Just like The Little Mermaid.

This is why he didn't read that often.

Somewhere along the line, his fragile heart would break.

He sniffed as he stepped inside the school, only to see a very large crowd of students already there. Nathaniel was already quite early, what were all these others doing here? The mass amount of people made him feel anxious and made him curious. His eyes examined the courtyard for clues. What could be around that caused this? He stopped on a poster on the wall. This same styled poster, though he couldn't read it quite yet, was near-everywhere. Nathaniel sped up his walk towards the least-crowded poster, which was on the second floor, and read it.

_Masquerade Ball!_   
_Francoise Dupont College's annual Masquerade Ball._   
_Tickets sold in courtyard from 1st to 6th._   
_October 7th._   
_6:00 PM to 11:00 PM_   
_Wear a mask!_

He cringed.

Nathaniel wasn't a big fan of dances and social gatherings all together, but the masquerade ball made him scream. The theme is always kept a secret until the last minute, when the dance _starts_. Everyone is required to have a date, but there was one problem with that: no one recognized each other once there. From the masks. Actually, at the very beginning, everyone is actually "betted" off and they have to spend the night with whatever anonymous person who betted on them. At the end of the night, everyone takes of their masks and see who they've been set up with. It tends to end badly because of all these dumb requirements. More than once has the night ended with people yelling at each other.

Why does he know this?

Rose and Juleka told him, on account of them attended the ball every time.

Nathaniel, on the other hand, always spent the evening at home, drawing and thinking about Marinette.

He was one of the very few students who didn't care about the ball. The others would be anyone who _pretended_ they didn't care even though they did, and anyone who was as socially inept as he was. But there weren't a lot of those. By that, it meant there was virtually none. Nathaniel felt his head spin just from looking up at the nauseatingly bright poster. It was like looking directly at the sun, just more sickening than painful. He shook it off and walked to Miss Bustier's class. However, class was probably _worse_ than the courtyard. His classmates were all talking about it; asking what they would wear (even though they wouldn't recognize it), how they felt about getting hooked up with someone else they didn't know, ext. Nathaniel stepped up the stairs and got in his seat. He heard that Ivan and Mylene were going together, and he sighed with relief.

There was the very small option of already having a date when they show up.

But it couldn't be a friend, or everyone would be doing that.

It had to be someone you were dating.

But no one was ever in a relationship, and that's why no one did it.

The talking turned to white noise, and he felt himself beginning to fall asleep. His head was propped up on his hand, and his eyes shut. For a brief moment, he dreamed of Marinette. She was wearing a wedding dress and had white wings. _My angel._ "Nathaniel, did you hear me?" Nathaniel snapped back awake, and saw Marinette kneeling next to the table. "O-Oh, I'm sorry. W-What did you say?" She smiled and said," I asked if you were going to the ball on Saturday." Well, hearing it out of her mouth made him want to say yes. For a moment, he wanted to pretend that she was asking him out. But fear struck him. Last year, she went with Adrien. Going to the same event might remind her of him. _Why am I so afraid for her?_ He responded," I-I was planning o-on stay-staying home. . ."

Marinette looked kind of disappointed.

"Aww, that's a shame. I was kind of hoping you could come with me."

Wait, what?

_What?!_

He tried not to look like he was losing it over what she just said. "Y-You wa-wanted to come w-with me? I-I thought it w-wasn't allowed to g-go with fr-friends," he said. _Friends._ Never thought he would call their relationship a friendship. She was now standing, leaning close to his face, and making him feel very shy. "They don't have to know that," she whispered. His eyes darted away, checking to see if anyone was looking at them. Nope, none of them were looking. Thank the heavens above. "Could we go together, Nathaniel? To the ball?" Guessed exactly what he was thinking. Everything was better with Marinette. She could make the ball seem _decent_ for him. She looked at him straight in the eyes, a pretty smile on her lips. Did she even know how teased he felt when she acted like this?

This secret hero stole his voice, his heart, and his attention.

His _everything._

Nathaniel, no longer being able to communicate, nodded his head.

Marinette smiled, saying," Thanks."

She stroked his hair and turned her heels to her own seat.

_How could someone be this flirty? Is she suffering from a post-break up stress syndrome?_

If he wasn't such an awkward, love-struck boy, he would probably enjoy this more.

Marinette had no idea how confused she made him with every little action she made. Did she like him? Or was she just playing? Why was she asking him out? Why was she going to the ball _all together?_ Perhaps she was very resilient. Nathaniel went from feeling confused, to happy, to full-blown anxiety. He knew nothing about the proper etiquette in dances or dating or any of that. _What will I do?!_ Even after the class begun, the boy was feverish and itching with fear. He was even shaking, his fingers anyway. His heart beat faster than normal, his breathing somewhat shallow. He was suddenly glad he was hidden by Ivan's large stature, to keep people from seeing him. Nathaniel's shaking messed up his handwriting.

His notes never looked this bad.

It was barely legible.

He was supposed to be _happy_ that his crush asked him out.

But he feared screwing up everything.

Losing a night of bliss and Marinette.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. First looking up to make sure the teacher wasn't watching, he pulled it out under the table and checked his messages. One unread text.

_From: Juleka_   
_[You okay, Nath? You look worried.]_

_From: Nathaniel_   
_[I'll tell you later.]_

No way was he texting his entire dilemma in class.

\-----

The minute the bell rung and everyone left, Juleka and Rose appeared on either side of the red-head, startling him.

"Spill it, Nathaniel," Juleka said, prodding his shoulder. Nathaniel, who was hyperventilating into a paper bag, swallowed and layed it flat on the table. He tried his best not to let his voice quiver, but clearly failed. "M-M-Marinette a-asked me-e to g-go to t-t-the M-Masquerade. . ." The two girls looked confused. "But isn't that a good thing? You've been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out for so long now, and she asked you out," Rose asked. He was afraid she'd say that. Nathaniel started to finger the corner of the bag, trying to distract himself. ". . .I-I'm sc-scared I-I'll s-s-screw so-something up. I-I me-mean, I-I do-don't know a-anything ab-about b-ball f-f-formalities a-and rules. . ." _And social gatherings make me nervous,_ he wanted to add. But they already knew.

It was the secret reason he never went to them.

Rose patted his back.

"Aww, it's okay Nathaniel! We'll help you get ready for your date!"

_Date._ It was a _date._ Right.

Juleka and Rose have been to every dance since they were ten, mostly because of Rose. Like himself, Juleka was more of a wallflower and tended to stray away from parties and such, but didn't have nearly as much anxiety as he did. This probably helped out when she became friends with Rose. How he ended up in a tiny group with them was a mystery. One day, Rose _dragged_ her tall friend to the lonely artist and started talking. After that, they hung out every once in a while and checked in on him. Nathaniel was grateful for them; if they hadn't become "friends", he would have melted in to a pool of panic every time someone spoke to him.

Well, he still does. But it's not as bad.

\-----

_Why are girls so obsessed with this sort of thing?_

Every day, Juleka and Rose kept Nathaniel on his toes, making sure he had every little detail in his head.

He wrote down notes on his notepad.

First, they gave him lessons in the "social rules" of attending dances. Rules that made him a bit nervous because of the fact that he was the "gentlemen". Wearing a tuxedo and picking her up from her house? Trying not to be rude and _actually talk?_ Why were social rules even a thing? They were so stressful and hard to remember! Who set these up? Nathaniel made sure to highlight anything that was _really_ important, and starred in a separate box anything that would make him anxious, like getting a photo taken. It wasn't as bad when it was the whole class, but with just Marinette? Scary! But thrilling at the same time?

"You know, some people go the extra mile and make a huge plan for it," Juleka said as she looked at his notes," Maybe you'll want to as well?"

He didn't even need to think about his answer for that.

"No."

They both looked shocked at his response. This boy was trying not to die of panic just the other day, and he doesn't want to make a plan?

"But why?"

"B-Because everytime I-I plan something, it g-goes wrong. N-Not just w-with me, but with a-a lot of people. B-Besides, I wa-want to keep i-it simple a-and blank. . ."

_Just like a canvas, about to get covered in paint, the night will get molded into whatever fate has planned for us._

He looked at his two friends, who both had ridiculous grins on their faces. His face turned red just thinking about the countless possibilities that could be going through their minds. Now, he just hoped they wouldn't tease him about any of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter I vent about lack of good Nathanette fics, how much Nathanette gets battered to make room for Adrienette, and just crying about it because whats the point in putting my children in it if you're going to hurt them, or rather, putting it in the tags. 
> 
> Because that's how you lure people into shattering their souls.
> 
> (Ignore my sad ranting)
> 
> Teaser for Future Chapters:
> 
> Angst and blood.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is sewing her dress, and pondering her date.

Fabric and ribbons were scattered across her desk.

Needle and threads of reds and blacks in order from lightest to darkest.

This was one of the reasons Marinette loved attending the ball so much: sewing her dress.

A lot of girls rented or bought a dress for the occasion, but she always done her own. It was an occasion to flaunt her style and talents in quiet manner. Why quiet? No one recognized her, but could clearly see the gown she would wear was home-made. Adrien always knew it was her, because they had gone together. Not this year. She wondered what Nathaniel would wear to the ball. Marinette and Adrien always coordinated their outfits, always told each other so they could match. He usually called her over the phone. But Nathaniel hasn't spoken to her once since she asked him out. Not a peep came from his mouth.

She got the feeling he wasn't going to tell her the type of tux he was going to wear.

_A surprise, huh?_

Marinette loved surprises like that. It got her imagination running.

Come to think of it, she'd never seen him wear anything that formal in all of the years they were in the same class.

Nathaniel wasn't extremely casual like Nino, but wasn't really dressy either. He was somewhere in between: A casual that looks nice. The sewing machine made a soft but rapid ticking sound as it ran over the red fabric. In all honesty, it would be hard for Nathaniel to pull off a really dressy outfit like a suit or tux. She'd seen the petite men's section in the store, and even those clothes would be too big for him. That's why he always cuffed his jacket and jeans, even though he never told anyone. Marinette closed one eye as she attempted to thread the needle. She must have been smiling, as Tikki asked," What are you thinking about, Marinette?" The bluenette stuck the thread into the eye and gave the kwami her attention. "Oh, I was just thinking about Nathaniel and the ball. I sort of thought it would be hard for him to find a tux that fit him right," she said.

Tikki had sat down on one of the spools of thread.

"Why did you ask Nathaniel to the ball in the first place? You know the rules, and you're not even dating!"

Marinette was thrown off by her question.

"Well, I--uh, I just wanted take Nathaniel. Is there something wrong with that?"

Apparently, she was oblivious to her own actions. Tikki sighed. "There's something odd about _everything_ you do with and to Nathaniel!" Even Tikki noticed her behavior around the boy. Ever since Adrien dumped her, she started clinging to Nathaniel. She's been wanting to hang out with him. She's been standing closer. She's been touching him. She's been calling him a friend. Not to mention, her asking him out to the ball. Before, they barely interacted. You know, apart from the occasional talk and his akumatization. Tikki barely knew about him, and yet _she noticed_. Marinette was clearly confused. "What do you mean? We're just friends."

"For starters, from a distance it probably looks like you're flirting with him!"

Well, shoot. She felt stupid now that it was brought out to the open.

"And Nathaniel probably feels like you're teasing him. . ."

Now, that definitely wasn't even in the back of her mind. Nathaniel was always very quiet and conserved, and had the tendency to get scared when someone suddenly addressed him. She knew Nathaniel had some sort of want to be her friend. This was because she was told that a sign of when introverts liked someone in some way, they will go outside their comfort zone. Go to lengths such as opening up to someone or making some sort of gesture. He had definitely done that. More than once, he stuttered a "hello", or gave her the pen she dropped. He never did that to anyone else. But she never thought of all of _her_ gestures as teasing.

They were impulses she never thought about.

Until now.

"Why do you act like that around him," Tikki asked, poking her finger.

A silence.

"I-I don't know. . .I just sort of. . .do."

She never acted like that to anyone. Not even Adrien, either during her crush or when they dated. Marinette was perfectly normal with the other boys in the class, just being friends. With Adrien, she tended to either freeze or was caught in a dreamy stare, and her heart beating ten-times faster than normal. With Nathaniel, her heart was resting, and she just. . . _interacted_ with him like it was in her nature. Natural instinct. Tikki was now "holding" her finger like a mother held her child's hands. "Marinette, do you even understand how you feel about him? Maybe it's something different than what you think." Marinette stared down at the unfinished dress. Her eyes traced the lines of the skirt and the black ruffles.

"No, it can't be. I still barely know him--"

"You barely knew Adrien when you first started crushing on him!"

True, and they had only been classmates for a day or two, and just previously she hated him! Under the belief he was a jerk like Chloe.

Nathaniel had been her classmate for years, and they were never really on any terms with each other. He was just _there._

"But I got to _know him_ after a while."

"You can always get to know Nathaniel."

She was running out of things to say. Marinette would have been fine had Tikki not started questioning her. But now? Not as much. Not to mention that the list of her dream was pinned up to the board in front of her, mocking her with confusion. "I guess the main problem is. . .that I've always known Nathaniel. I've only felt one thing about him, and that wasn't _anything_. I. . .never thought about it," Marinette said, feeling the fabric. The kwami rested her pink head on her thumb. Tikki could see past her confusion, and felt pity that Marinette couldn't see it herself. She also didn't have the heart to just _tell her_. Marinette needed to realize it for herself.

She shook her head and decided she need to start sewing again.

After all, she needed to get this done before the ball.

But in reality, she was just trying to distract herself from the questions being asked.

Marinette's fingers delicately held the fabrics together, as her other hand poked holes through and sewn them together.

She wondered what she should do for the mask. There was no way she should do anything like her Ladybug mask. Otherwise, people would get suspicious. The bluenette was still doing red and black to match the dress. Maybe some sequins, and a little something _extra_. Something to make it interesting. Perhaps a bow? Or some sort of design? Not too much, as it might ruin it. Nothing heavy, nothing harmful to the eye sight. The opposite of the posters. Ew. They must have hired a colorblind person to design that. She couldn't wrap her head around how there were people who actually _liked_ it. Personally, she liked the ball itself more. Marinette compared a few designs she had of masks.

They were all good, but none of them really struck her with that "Masquerade Ball" look.

Perhaps if she took a little piece from each design and combined them?

She started sketching a mask, taking bits and pieces from the others.

Marinette took extra care doing this one. After all, she needed the perfect mask for the occasion, and needed to see it clearly. She even took out her colored pencils to test various combinations of red and black and such. However, there was some trouble there. Some combinations just looked plain awful. Others were a little better, but they kind of hurt to look at. This wasn't good. She didn't want Nathaniel to look away immediately after seeing her. _Let's try this again,_ she thought. Marinette drew it again, just as carefully. She tried a color combination different than the others she tried. Circular coloring. Red. Black. Some white.

Upon finishing, she took a good look at it.

It was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter than normal because I don't want to give away too much stuff for the next chapter, but still want to add Marinette's side of things.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At a masquerade, Nathaniel is on a date with Marinette. Only to ride a rollar coaster of emotions, and to end in peace.

_You can do this, Nath._

Nathaniel took a deep breath as he pinned back the left quarter of his hair with a clip.

It felt weird.

Never thought he'd actually be _taking it away_ from covering his face.

The ball wasn't for another hour or so, but he was eaten up, head to toe, in anxiety.

His hair was brushed and _tried_ to tuck it behind his ear. It was only a partial success. Some still hung in front of his face. Nathaniel started buttoning his shirt when he finally realized there was no helping it. He'd never really worn a dress shirt like this before (or any kind of suit-attire), and noticed the sleeves themselves were already somewhat torn. Well, that's what the boy gets for wearing the tuxedo his father wore when _he_ was in middle school. He was somewhat agitated by his father's juvenile carelessness from the past. But, sadly unless he wanted to wear a dress that wasn't exactly "nice", he was stuck with this.

Although, in hindsight, he probably should have tried it on previous to this night.

The vest had been embroidered with a set of butterflies in violet thread.

That was something he _did_ do previously (and thankful for sewing lessons because of that).

Just some subtle and abstract hints to give Marinette.

Nathaniel buttoned the vest and pulled on the dress coat, cuffing the sleeves (which, just as his usual jacket, the sleeves were too long). He felt shy looking at himself through the mirror. Ugh, it was just so weird, wearing a tuxedo and going on a date with _Marinette._ Now, he just didn't know whether to be scared or vomit. Maybe both? Or neither? The only thing that wasn't dressy were his shoes. His usual sneakers, because there was no way he was going wearing dress shoes. What if something happened and he needed to run? Plus, he had heard Adrien complaining about how uncomfortable they were. Nathaniel picked up the mask. It was a dark butterfly mask, just like on his alter ego, The Evillustrator.

Another subtle hint.

He also made a silent prayer that in some way, wearing the mask of The Evillustrator, would give him the same confidence and out-going-nature.

Another deep breath, this time much more shook. He had the scent of roses and vanilla sticking to him (mostly from trying to aquire a flower for Marinette, and from accidentally knocking over a number of perfumes in the bathroom). Was that bad? Girls liked that smell, right? Most everyone did. Except for people who didn't like roses or vanilla. Would she expecting him to be wearing cologne? That would be a shame because he never wore it. Mainly cause it smelled funny.

Nathaniel gingerly picked up the corsage. A white rose.

Hints, and just because he really loved white roses. They went with everything, and looked so pure. Clean from everything the world had to throw at them.

Looking down, he hoped Marinette wouldn't notice the cuffs.

No one cuffed their dress-pants.

Nathaniel quietly walked out of the room, the flower in his hand. Immediately, he flinched at a sudden bright flash. His parents stood near the door, holding a camera, smiles on their faces. Mrs. Kurtzberg kissed her son's forehead, saying," Oh, I'm so proud of you, Nathaniel! My boy going to a _dance!_ You look so cute!" His father held a thumbs-up, agreeing with her," Yeah, son, a real lady killer!" He felt squeamish at his parents' compliments. Wanting to get away from them, he kissed them goodbye." O-Okay, bye-bye then!"

There was nothing he doubted more than "being a lady killer".

As he wasn't exactly the most "attractive" person in the school, and nothing would ever go that well for him.

Not even with Marinette.

 

* * *

 

 

Nathaniel anxiously waited at the front door.

He was seeing Marinette's parents a second time.

But this time he was her _date._

Something about that made him feel even more scared.

Her mother was the one who answered the door. At first, she looked surprised by his very presence. But she immediately welcomed him in with a gesture and a kind smile. Her father looked equally happy about it. "So _you're_ the young man who's gotten Marinette so excited," he said. _She was excited_? Nathaniel gave a shy smile, nodding ans saying," Y-Yes, s-sir." It was then Sabine said something that would stick to his mind for quite sometime. "We're so grateful to you, Nathaniel. She was so sad after Adrien broke up with her, I thought she'd never bounce back. But then you came and she's so happy all of the time!" _I made her happy again._

_I. . .made her happy._

"Nathaniel?"

His attention darted back to reality, looking up the stairs to see none other than Marinette walking down.

Her shirt was red, a swan-necked collar and sleeveless, and a thin black and sheer short-sleeved shirt underneath. The skirt was darker, the top coming just above her waist, pleated and split down the sides, black ruffled layers underneath. Around her waist was a black sash and a thin yellow bow. Her legs were covered with thigh-high white socks. Her hair was let down from the usual pigtails, and formed ringlets down her shoulders, as a headband with a bejeweled bow sat on her head, and her mask was black and red. The outside was red with little white sequins, and the middle was black.

In other words, absolutely gorgeous.

Why didn't she wear red more often outside of being Ladybug?

It looked _good_ on her.

He almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her feet. Little black ballet shoes. Thankful for this, because had she worn any kind of actual heels, she would have ended up taller than him.

Marinette smiled when she saw him, locking their arms together. Her mother stopped them before they even left, saying," Wait, wait! I need my camera!" She came back with a camera in her hands, holding it up, and a bright light flashed. Well, it was multiple. Nathaniel could have sworn he blinked. Her parents looked so happy for them. It was a shame they weren't really dating, and were really just cheating the system. But he wasn't going to let that little prick hurt his heart. Not tonight. Not now. Not while he was living one of his own fantasies. Sabine looked very pleased with the photos (which she didn't show them), saying," Okay, kids! You can go on your date now!"

Nathaniel recalled his lessons and lead Marinette outside, keeping their arms interlocked.

The sun was just about set by the time they got outside.

"M-Marinette. . ."

"What is it, Nathaniel?"

He held out the corsage, and just by her own knowledge, she held out her left hand. The red-head was more than happy to put it on, slipping it on and adjusting it to be on the outside. Marinette was holding the boutonniere, a red rose. Nathaniel had expected her to hand it to him so he could pin it on his coat, as Rose had told him. But instead, she put it in his hair. This was against tradition. "W-What are y-you doing," he asked. She had said," I just knew it would look better in your hair than on your jacket." So that was a compliment? Strange, seeing as though it's _not_ supposed to be there.

Marinette looked down at his body, raising questions.

"W-What is it?"

"You cuffed your clothes again."

Shoot.

The insecurity must have shown on his face, as she put her hand on his shoulder, saying," It's okay, Nath. You've been cuffing everything since grade school, and if anyone could make it look good, it's you."

He wasn't sure whether to thank her, or feel embarrassed at the fact that she noticed he's been doing it for that long.

Marinette hugged his arm, asking," So, Mr. Kurtzberg, shall we go?" Should he scream from her calling him that and holding his arm, or attempt to calmly walk to the school, which was around 6 feet away. Second option won (for once). He was tempted to try and hold her hand as they walked across the street. Nathaniel could hear the music playing from the outside. It was mostly really popular songs he never heard before, and the occasional song that's probably from the '70s to the '90s. "T-The music certainly is l-loud. . .," he said softly. She patted his head, saying," Don't worry, it's not going to damage your hearing or anything." Marinette probably never stood right next to a speaker before during the ball.

They walked in together, and immediately he felt scared.

He couldn't recognize anyone.

 

* * *

 

 

People tend to rely on their ability to recognize faces, except for people who have some sort of disability to prevent that.

Masks help conceal their identity.

And right now, there was nothing Nathaniel hated more than _masks._

Every attendee wore a mask, some even covering their whole face. He couldn't recognize faces, everyone was a stranger to him. Except Marinette. How would he know one of these people weren't a criminal in disguise going to kidnap him?! He found himself squeezing her hand from the sudden reaction. Marinette pointed at the staff members, who were also well-dressed and masked (the only reason anyone knew they were staff was because they were taller and clearly older than everyone else). "Look, they're getting ready to do the date-gamble," she exclaimed. Almost everyone else was wearing a number with their flower, except for maybe one or two other couples. One of those couples probably being Ivan and Mylene.

Nathaniel and Marinette stayed close to the wall, away from the gamble.

He took a moment to look away from the disorganized students and saw Marinette looked. . .annoyed? Sad? Somewhere in between? Yes, definitely that.

"I-Is something w-wrong, Marinette," the boy asked her. She pointed towards the crowd, saying," Look. Adrien." Nathaniel looked to where she was pointing. Standing there was a tall blonde boy in a pitch-black tuxedo, a black mask, and a set of green eyes. He, too, wore a number on a flower. The staff were the ones handing out flowers and numbers for the students. How could she know it was him? "H-How do you know?" "It's the same suit he wore last year." Yeah, that would probably help. He held her hand and looked her in the eyes, telling her, _Remember, I still think you're pretty great._ Especially tonight. She smiled with him. Nathaniel glimpsed back at the crowd and said," H-Hey, l-look at how m-many people are L-Ladybug and C-Cat Noir tonight!" Marinette laughed at how many people were dressed in the special gowns and tuxedos.

"Who knows, maybe one of them _is_ Ladybug," she laughed.

He knew the real Ladybug wasn't in the crowd.

She was laughing next to him with that beautiful smile and alluring voice.

That's the little secret behind his curved lips.

The music was silenced as the students organized themselves boys and girls. Girls sat on the right side-seats, boys sat on the left side-seats across from each other. A teacher would call out a number and whose number was called would stand in front of everyone with the teacher, and they would ask for hands who would be willing to be this person's date. Anyone who never got a hand would just get paired with someone at random.

First was a blonde girl and blue eyes, wearing a black and yellow dress, a white crown, and a rather spiked looking black mask. Nathaniel tried his best to look at her and figure out who she was, but he couldn't. However, she did have a very smug smile on her face. "She looks like a bumble bee," Marinette whispered in his ear, making him snicker. _A queen bee,_ he thought. Mr. teacher announced," So which young man would like to spend the evening with this beautiful young lady?" Many hands shot up immediately. To think, they could very well hate this girl and not even know about it. And they're raising their hands for her. "The poor soul who gets with her should get prepared to get _stung_ ," Nathaniel whispered back. _I didn't stutter. . ._

This went on for a while more.

People getting called and betted off to people who raised their hands, Marinette and Nathaniel making quiet jokes and laughing about them, and watching the unhappier couples virtually ignore each other, or one ignoring the other who was trying their hardest.

The music started beating again.

The couples were dancing together.

Talking and having fun.

Nathaniel began to feel awkward.

He had always been a wallflower, sticking to the sidelines away from everyone.

Marinette was always a social butterfly, following the people wherever they went.

Or rather, a social _ladybug._

He made sure she wasn't looking at him and pulled up his sleeve to see the notes he wrote down. It was a little smudged from showering, but still legible. Despite having memorized everything Rose and Juleka taught him, his nerves got the best of him and ended up writing on his own arm as a precaution. Darn anxiety. _Offer the lady a glass of punch._ Why it was "glass" not "cup" was odd, considering the table didn't have glasses. Nathaniel turned to his date, asking," W-Would you l-like something t-to drink?" Marinette took a moment to analyze what he asked, and responded with," Sure, Nath." He smiled at the nickname before trotting off to the refreshments table.

No one was over there, so he didn't have to worry about anyone looking at him. However, before even picking up a cup, he smelled the punch. Just in case someone drugged it with, say, painkillers or some other horrible substance. He even tasted the cup he picked up for Marinette for extra security. It was regular fruit punch, with a hint of orange. Good. Nathaniel took the cup with both hands and, much more carefully, walked it back to the lovely Marinette, not wanting to spill it. Who poured this? It's way too close to the brim! It's a recipe for disaster! Well, it wasn't _that_ close, but still enough to spill with reckless behavior.

"You're quite the gentlemen, Nathaniel," Marinette said as she took the chilled drink from his hands.

"Y-You're welcome."

Nathaniel's worries were proven correct not moments later.

The queen bee-girl was hissing at her date, who had spilled the punch on her dress.

Yup, that guy got _stung._

Marinette sipped the fruity substance, saying," Poor guy." Although, the smile on her face said otherwise. He was trying not to laugh at them. Bee-girl screamed and shouted at him about the cost of her gown and such, while the frightened boy tried to apologize and make it up to her. That clearly wasn't going to happen. It was more fun to just watch everyone from the sidelines with her. Instead of actually going out there and being near everyone.

And the loud music.

And the yelling.

And overall people.

Nathaniel noticed she was standing right next to him, almost touching his arm. He could smell her perfume; cherry blossom and citrus somewhere. At that moment, he almost felt intoxicated by her, wanting to fall down drunk in just her presence. It was great. A song he actually knew started playing, a song he very much loved.

_It's her hair and her eyes today_  
_That just simply take me away_  
_And the feeling that I'm falling further in love_  
_Makes me shiver but in a good way_  
_All the times I have sat and stared_  
_As she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair_  
_And she purses her lips, bats her eyes_  
_And she plays with me sitting there slack jawed_  
_And nothing to say_  
_Cause I love her with all that I am_  
_And my voice shakes along with my hands_  
_Cause she's all that I see and she's all that I need_  
_And I'm out of my league again._

It was exactly how he felt about Marinette.

The other couples had begun to slow dance on the floor. Nathaniel wanted to ask her to dance. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, whispering just how much he loved her. But his moment of happiness was cut short.

In the blink of an eye, he was no longer near his beloved Marinette, and in the middle of the dance floor.

It wasn't Marinette who dragged him there.

It was bee-girl.

She wore anger and mockery on her face for make-up, and it did nothing to make her look better. "You think you're so smart, don't you," she hissed. Nathaniel knew that terrifying voice anywhere. It was Chloe. She was the one who got soaked from punch, and everyone raised their hands for her. There was no doubt she heard the quiet jokes he made with Marinette. Chloe ripped the mask off of his face, throwing on the ground and trampling it under her heels.

He was scared. His face was revealed to the masked people around them, and he was on the ground, his wrist clenched tightly in her hand. Nathaniel tried to pull his hand away from the angry girl, but she dug her nails into his skin, making him wince with pain. It felt like Chloe was screaming at him, taking more than just her frustration about the jokes at throwing it violently at him. She shouted many nasty things, including insults, and the horrible truth.

"Do you think this is _funny,_ Kurtzberg?!"

No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't even shake his head.

Everyone was staring at them.

"I'll tell you what's funny: the pathetic excuse for a man on the ground in front of me. You're _weak_ , you're a _coward,_ you can't speak two words without screwing up everything."

Her nails broke the skin, causing red blood to run down his arm and on to her originally-clean nails.

Nathaniel tried his hardest to rip his arm away from her, only to deepen the wounds.

The last set of insults and truth she spoke were so low and under her breath, it made him shiver.

"You're unlovable. You'll never be able to tell Marinette you love her, and she'll never love you back."

Nathaniel finally managed to pull away from her, ripping the wounds. He staggered trying to stand up on his own two feet. And the first thing he did was run.

Run away from everyone and everything.

Regardless of the voice that called after him.

 

* * *

 

Rain fell from the sky and hit the ground below him.

Never in his life had he ever felt like this.

Humiliated, scared, upset, all at the same time.

Never had he felt so horrible about himself.

Nathaniel found himself running into the park, where there wasn't a soul to be found. Trying not to cry. Trying not to panic. Trying not to breathe. Just trying to get away from it all. The only sound now was the sound of the rain. It is said that the sound and smell of rain can calm some people, and right now he needed that more than ever. Tears spilt over his cheeks, despite him trying his hardest to fight them. He wasn't crying because what Chloe said was mean; he was crying because it was true. Never in his life will he ever have the confidence to tell Marinette his feelings, he always stuttered, he could never put up a fight against someone. There was no doubt about it that he was no butterfly.

Instead, he had taken a seat on the bench, hugging his knees close to his chest and burying his face.

His breathing quivered and his body shook.

_I just knew this was going to happen. . ._

He never would want to taunt someone to make them feel bad. Everyone made playful jokes and laughed at each other, but he never really got to experience that. Being a person who never really had any friends. Something in the back of his mind told him Chloe had some unresolved anger issues about quite a few things, including the ball and another reason he didn't know. Of all the people in the world, she had to snap it all out at _him._

Nathaniel didn't know how long he spent there, motionless and shaking.

Until someone came.

"Nathaniel!"

He looked up and saw Marinette had come after him.

She held an umbrella in her hand, protecting her from the rain. Her shoes, on the other hand, were wet from the puddle-covered ground. But she looked very concerned. "Nathaniel, I was so worried about you," Marinette said. Surely she heard Chloe in the school, and heard every little flaw that was pointed out about him. "I-I'm sorry. . .," he said, trying not to make eye contact. He was now standing in front of her, staring down at the ground. She cupped his cheek in her hand. "Don't you dare apologize, Nath. You're not the one to blame, you didn't do anything wrong. Chloe did, by lashing out at you."

There was no stopping his crying now.

The moment she saw his tears, she pulled him into a tight hug.

The longer she held him, the more he cried.

He was at a disadvantage: soaked with a light scent of blood from his hand that has yet to be tended to.

And yet, she still felt the need to hug and comfort him.

Marinette could feel his shaking. _He's so scared. . ._ Even though the two of them never interacted much in the past, she still noticed how fragile he was. Easily scared and sensitive to yelling and fighting. Most everyone could see that on him without even holding a conversation with him. Even a dense person like Chloe could see that. That's why it made her all the more cruel to just start barking. Especially since she was insulting him in such a way. Not to mention the opened eyes of every student and staff member there.

He was helpless in her claws.

He was hurt, both emotionally and physically.

He needed help to heal.

Nathaniel pressed his face into her shoulder, hot watery tears creating wet droplets on her dress, his arms around her waist. The red-head opened his eyes for a brief moment and saw something sticking out of her purse. It looked like a tiny dark pink sphere with a black spot on it's forehead and cheeks. It was _blinking._ It was. . .alive perhaps? Marinette whispered," You know. . .we never got to have our dance." So he wasn't the only one wanting to dance with her. But, not wanting her to know how much he wanted that during this time, he simply asked," W-What d-d-d-do yo-you m-m-mean?"

She gave him a smile, closed the umbrella, placed her phone on the bench beside them, and it started playing a song.

The same one he loved and was playing in the school.

The bluenette had her arms around his shoulders, saying," Lead the way, Mr. Kurtzberg."

Slowly, they started stepping in rhythm. One step, two step. Forwards, backwards. Soon, they were waltzing in the rain together. Nathaniel normally would be feeling dizzy from all the turning, but never once did he take his eyes off Marinette. He felt at peace. The outside world was a little dirty, they were both soaked, his eyes were red, and the smell of blood was somewhere in the background.

But never in his life had he experienced something so romantic.

At this moment, he was lost in a sea of dreams and strange people.

He was confused, upset, humiliated, scared. . .

And happy.

After the dance, they still held each other in an embrace. His head was rested her shoulder. It was lovely. For some time, they stayed like that. Not a word spoken, not a movement made. Just quiet peace. Nathaniel flinched when he heard the phone make a _bloop_ sound. The tiny red splot was looking up again, unaware he could see it. They had released from each other's arms and she looked at the screen. Marinette looked a bit sad and held his hands. "Nathaniel, I'm sorry, but I need to leave now. There's something very important I need to do."

_News about another villain, maybe?_

"T-That's o-okay, M-M-Marinette. . ."

She kissed his forehead, and whispered," I'll come and see if you're okay later."

He nodded and watched her run to the place she needed to be.

The ache in his heart was beginning to heal, because of her.

A date, a dance, a hug, and a kiss.

Four things he never thought he'd ever get from her.

Truly, this moment was a fantasy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I just killed someone over there in the background in the audience.
> 
> Anyway, this was a chapter I've had planned before I even started writing this, so as you can imagine, I've been holding back everything in my power to just write it immediately for the sake of plot. (funny story: in a novel I read, the narrator said that is wasn't a love story without a chapter in the rain, somewhere along those lines) 
> 
> Also, now you all know the namesake of this story: Out of My League by Stephen Speaks. I love it, and there's a Nathanette Video on YouTube for it.
> 
> An actual Author's Note: They're still not dating. Things will get fluffier, take a fall, and shoot back up again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette checks up on Nathaniel, and things get. . .a little fluffy.

_I need to make sure he's okay._

This was the only thing on Ladybug's mind as she swung from building to building, her friend the only thing running through her mind.

She felt so guilty for leaving him to fulfill her duties as a protector of Paris.

Especially when he was so broken like that.

Her eyes darted in every direction, trying to remember where Nathaniel lived. She had never visited his home, and only knew he lived there because she had seen him walking out of it one day. Ladybug started peering through the windows, looking for signs of a red-haired boy. Her heart ached at the thought of what he might be doing at this moment. Crying? Hiding? Screaming? _Beep, beep beep!_ Another spot disappeared from her earrings. At this rate, she was never going to find him.

Ladybug must have looked through 50 windows before stopping at one.

_Nathaniel. . ._

She stepped inside the window, and the last spot disappeared, reverting back to regular ol' Marinette.

_Is this breaking and entering?!_ The thought worried her, but it didn't stay there for long. Marinette quietly walked towards Nathaniel, who seemed to have fallen asleep at the table. Instead of the suit she had seen him wearing just earlier that day, he donned a black t-shirt and grey sweat-pants. A towel was draped over his head. His wounded arm was bandaged and his eyes were tinged with red. As opposed to earlier, in which his hair was restrained, now locks fell over his shoulders and on to the table. A paper was under his head and a mug sat near him. Marinette rested her hand on his head, running her fingers through his hair. Poor boy, she thought. Nathaniel's eyelashes fluttered, indicating he was dreaming.

But it didn't seem like a completely nice dream.

He made soft whimpers and shivered as he slept.

_Is he having a nightmare?_

Who wouldn't, after getting screamed at like that?

_He might hurt himself if he sleeps like this,_ she thought. But first, she looked for a thermos for the warm beverage in the mug, as she didn't want to be wasteful, and Nathaniel might want it later. Marinette had difficulty finding one without nearly dropping something or making noise. Plus the cabinets were _so high up!_ How did Nathaniel find anything at his size? She was tempted to just stand on the counter top, but she might leave footprints. The bluenette stood on her toes at her highest, eyeballing the insides until she saw exactly what she needed: a thermos. Specifically, a thermos with little butterflies on it. How cute. Marinette jumped to grab it, nearly yelling out when accidentally knocking another cup.

Breathing a sigh of relief for the lack of disaster, she walked back over to the sleeping boy.

She sniffed the steaming mug.

It was tea, most likely chamomile tea.

With extreme caution, she poured the tea from the mug to the thermos until it was all in.

After that, she screwed the lid on, put on a sticky note that said _Nath's tea_ , and placed it behind a clear jar below the cabinets.

Then, Marinette pulled out his chair, scooped him up in her arms like a bride, and carried him to his bedroom. Nathaniel's hair was still damp from the rain, and felt chilled against her shirt. But. . .did he always look so _cute_ when he slept? There had been times when she saw him sleeping in the back of the classroom, but never up close like this. He looked so. . .delicate. Like a baby bird or a kitten. She came across a door with police tape on it. This had to be his room. Thankfully, the door was already partially opened, so she didn't have to free one of her hands to open it herself. Marinette peaked inside and stepped in, walking towards the bed and lied Nathaniel down. She tucked him in and kissed his bangs, silently wishing him goodnight.

The only other boy's room she had ever been in was Adrien's, and most of the times in there she spent as Ladybug.

Unlike Adrien's room, his wasn't nearly as "masculine" and sporty.

In fact, it was more along the lines of "artistic" and "rock" than anything else.

But it was then when something caught her eye.

She carefully made her away around the papers and paint stains to a covered canvas across the room. Marinette removed the tarp and was struck with awe.

It was a painting. . .

Of her dream.

It was almost exactly how she saw it, apart from the butterfly. That was a little too complex, but the likeness was jaw-dropping. How did he know? How could he have known what her dream was? Was it a coincidence? Most likely not. She found herself being captivated by everything on the canvas: from the little paint strokes, to the beautiful colors, and the shadows. It was almost more beautiful than the dream itself. Nathaniel had so much talent to put on the paper, and she could watch it all day. Her fingertips grazed the surface, feeling each individual line and texture.

Looking at the butterfly made her think back to the dance.

Nathaniel had incorporated butterflies into a few parts of his tuxedo, but why?

Did he really like butterflies?

She could understand that, as butterflies were very pretty and graceful.

Marinette looked back at her sleeping friend, seeing his body slowly rise and fall with his breathing. At this moment, he was seemed to be at peace. He wasn't in panic, he wasn't crying, he wasn't timid. She knelt down beside the bed, watching him for any signs of a nightmare or maybe something worse. This wasn't creepy, okay? The girl was just making sure this scared little artist wasn't on the brink of a complete meltdown. She was just very concerned over her friend, who wouldn't be? Granted, she herself was very sleepy and needed to be getting home. But no. Marinette was going to stay by his side.

Even if it took all night. (Although, she would need to leave early in the morning before he woke up.)

Her hand rested on his head, petting him.

When she had done the same to Adrien, his hair was very fluffy and had the tendency to stick up in places.

Nathaniel's felt almost like silk and always fell perfectly back in place.

_Why is it so much more satisfying to touch?_

She flinched when he moved. At first, she thought he was just shifting, but about five seconds later, she realized it was a bit more complex than that. He was shivering, even under the sheets. Marinette placed the back of her hand on his forehead. Nathaniel was a little warm, but it didn't seem to be a fever. When she was little and got cold, her parents would always bundle her up and keep her warm with hugs.

If he were awake for what she was about to do, he would've died of embarrassment right there.

What did she do?

Well, you're about to find out.

Marinette had slipped off her shoes and her jacket, crawled under the sheets with him, and wrapped him in a hug. She hoped her own body heat would keep him warm, and it did. He stopped shivering, and even felt him melt a little in her arms. Nathaniel wasn't the only one who was enjoying the hug; Marinette liked it too, maybe even more. It was like a child cuddling a plush toy. Except the toy had no idea this was even happening, and if he did, he'd probably be dying.

At first, she told herself it was just for a moment, and she would leave after some time.

But she just kept telling herself, _just a little longer and then I'll leave._

She never did.

Without her knowing, she had fallen asleep next to Nathaniel in the bed.

She had another dream that night.

_Instead of a ladybug, she was Marinette. But at the same time. . .she wasn't? It was as though she were trapped inside an abstract painting or a fun house mirror. It was hard to move, let alone to talk or to breathe. Marinette felt her motions were no different from limping. She looked down and saw her dress seemed to have eyes embroidered into the fabric. They blinked at her. Why wasn't she afraid of this? Isn't this normally very scary? It felt natural some how. She continued to limp and the dark room she was in at first faded, becoming a beach by the ocean._

_Behind her was a rock-wall ledge of the sorts, below a magnificent kingdom._

_In the water sat a large rather flat rock._

_Someone was sitting on top._

_It was a merman. But, like herself, it was extraordinarily abstract to the point where she couldn't recognize it. His eyes were just circular holes through his head, the view of the ocean visible in them. From his head flowed blood instead of hair and around his neck was a chain with a small shell. His mouth couldn't open, and the most he could do was smile. The merman reached for her hand and kissed it. Just like her dress of blinking eyes, it seemed as though it should have been scary, but it felt fine. In fact, he almost looked enchanting. Marinette took his hand and stepped on to the rock with him. The merman pulled her closer and kissed her, and she was so happy to kiss him back._

_For some reason._

_But this rock was the only place they could meet._

_She couldn't enter the strange ocean, filled with wet things and places even more abstract than the surface._

_He couldn't enter the surface land, filled with odd, dry people and customs foreign to him._

_That didn't bother them._

_The rock was a safe place, a place of love and compassion._

_A place in between._

_Marinette's fingers touched the blood and beautiful flowers blossomed from the fluid that now stained her hand. Those flowers didn't harm her, and felt pleasant on her skin. The merman ran his fingers through her hair, and when he retracted, his hand was covered in a dark blue, galaxy substance and a few ladybugs flew out of it. She kissed him again, thinking in her mind,' You know I love you so much, right?' He pressed his head against her forehead, and she could hear his thoughts. 'Of course. I wish you didn't have to leave me.'_

_The merman was very strange._

_Every time someone came by, he hid in the water._

_He was very thoughtful, and often times, he lived more in his daydreams than reality when she wasn't near._

_But she loved him anyway._

_Many of the abstract boys would try to flirt with her, asking her to go on a stroll or to dance with them._

_She always declined._

_There was another waiting for her near the coastline._

_Sometimes, he would visit her in the castle gardens from the small lakes and rivers. Sometimes, he would hide under the low balcony and listen to her talking to these admirers. The merman loved to watch her, and she loved seeing him, even if it was just for a brief moment, as he fled from the abstract humans. He seemed to be scared of them. But not her. When she told him stories from the surface world and he didn't understand, she started taking a small thing from those stories to show him._

_The time Marinette told him about the rose garden, she showed him a crown of white roses one of the children made._

_The time Marinette told him of the banquet held for the victory in war, she showed him a small flag and some silverware._

_They didn't have things like forks and knives under the ocean of mysteries._

_The merman was so fascinated by the things of the surface world, he felt sad whenever she had to leave him._

_But during the times when they were together, he couldn't be happier._

_These were the things he thought about, and the things she heard from his mind._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, every time I write a new chapter, in my head I'm screaming," Does this make sense to the reader(s)?!"
> 
> I asked my Honors English teacher if a good author would make you have tons of feels (not in those exact words), and she said yes, definitely.
> 
> So I guess it's good that I killed some people with the last chapter? O_O'


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel wakes up to Marinette sleeping by his side, who should ask him for a favor later in the day.

_What's touching me?_

This was the first question when Nathaniel felt himself waking up, his eyes not quite opened yet.

Due to still being sleepy, he took his time opening them.

The minute he did, his face turned crimson.

He saw, sleeping right there in front of him, was Marinette. Her arm was loosely laying on his shoulder and he could feel her knees against his legs. Not only was this an invasion of personal space by about 5 feet, it was an invasion from the love of his life. How did she even get here?! She did say to him she was going to "check up" on him, but she definitely didn't say," Hey I'm going to sneak into your house and climb in your bed while you're sleeping." How did _he_ get there? Nathaniel was sure he had fallen asleep at the table, and he didn't remember even walking into the room.

Unless. . .

_Ugh._

Unless Marinette was the one who put him there.

It could only be Marinette, as his parents were already asleep when he got home.

The thought of your crush carrying you back and putting you in bed was embarrassing.

He wanted to hide his face under the blanket but Marinette was _also_ using it.

Nathaniel flinched at every little sudden movement, scared she was going to see he was awake and _staring_ at her. He noticed once she changed position that she was still wearing her clothes. As in, normal everyday outdoors outfit. Extracting her jacket, which he saw hanging on the back of his chair. She looked beautiful all the time, even when she was sleeping. The temptation to hug her, or maybe even _kiss her,_ was there. Just the thought of it felt wrong. He would be invading her personal space without her permission. He would be taking something that didn't belong to him. They weren't even in a relationship, and doing that was informal.

It felt. . . _rude._

Suddenly, Marinette moved again, this time making a light groan.

_Shoot! She's waking up, she's waking up! Pretend to be asleep!_

He covered his head with the blanket, eyes half opened, as she woke up. Hopefully, she couldn't see him. Marinette sat up and sleepily looked around. The very second she saw where she was, she _freaked out_. She put her hands on her head like she was going to pull her hair, and had a panicked expression. "What the-- What am I doing here?!" Marinette checked the time on her phone, saying," Oh no! My parents will kill me!" In a frenzy, she practically fell on the floor, pulling on her jacket and slipping on her shoes. She kissed his bangs and hopped over to the window, the little red _thing_ flying out in the open.

"You really should have left when you had the chance last night," the red spot said.

"I know, I know! I'll deal with that later, Tikki, but right now I need Ladybug!"

Nathaniel watched as Marinette said," Tikki, Spots on!" and the room was filled with a sudden flash of light. The red spot had flown into her earrings, and seconds later, she was Ladybug.

_So that's how she transforms._

Ladybug cast her yo-yo to a building across the street and she flew out the window, the sun just beginning to rise. Once he knew she was gone, he sat up, touching the part of his hair that she kissed. His face was still somewhat red. He could still feel her warmth, her knees, and her lips. Did Adrien feel like this every time Marinette so much as held his hand? Or did he feel numb? Whatever this feeling was. . .it was _wonderful._ Nathaniel felt a smile rise on his face. Definitely happier than the night before (at least before Chloe ruined it for him).

He crawled on to the floor and heard someone talking.

Outside the door.

Nathaniel placed his ear against the door, listening to the words. It was his parents. "How do you think it went," his father asked. "Oh, I'm sure it went just fine," his mother chirped. "I'm sure he had lots of fun. Socializing, dancing, laughing, and Carefree." "I hope they didn't get rained on. It was really coming down last night." He backed away from the door. He didn't have the heart to tell them what really happened.

He didn't socialize with anyone but Marinette the whole night.

He only danced with Marinette after Chloe crushed him, and it was out in the rain.

He only laughed when they joked (which led to his trauma).

Not to mention his anxiety levels were extremely high the whole time.

They just seemed so happy with this happy little fantasy they hoped he lived, it would be heartbreaking to find out the truth. That he got hurt, cried from the painful truth, and was an antisocial tomato the entire time. Even what happened afterwards would hurt them. When he danced with Marinette in the rain, fell asleep at the table, and having his date carry him to bed and _sleep with him_. They didn't like him getting sick, and probably would tease him if they found out about it.

The memory of all those "girlfriend" jokes sent shivers up his spine.

It was best to just keep quiet.

For everyone's sake.

Nathaniel stood back up and closed the window that had been opened all night because he had forgotten to close it earlier. No wonder it was so cold. Upon looking outside, any other person would say it's a beautiful day, and he should go out. He didn't really want to, as he preferred to draw his romance comics at home alone. You know, so people wouldn't see them. So, he opened up his sketchbook and started working on new panels.

It was no exaggeration that he and Marinette were the main characters in every segment.

And there were a lot of them.

Art was a safe place where he was allowed to dream fantasies without the cruelty of reality coming in.

He could draw the thoughts he had about Marinette everyday.

Now, he could draw the kiss she left on his head, and every little feeling he had.

The artist pulled out a ruler and started drawing the panels. Very lightly, in case he would want to erase it later, of course. The first page was one simple rectangle. He started to sketch basic human shapes; circles, squares, rectangles, stuff like that. It didn't look like two people, but it would when he was finished. Definitely, because he did this every time, and every time, he would get actual people in the end. Nathaniel started drawing a finalized general human shape: a girl on the left, and a boy on the right. No matter how many conflicting feelings and anxieties he had during that time, _he had to draw it._

Besides, his mind usually filtered out anything scary or awkward, and he would be left with pure, romantic scenes that he silently wished were real.

Who wouldn't?

Nathaniel then did her eyes and hair, recalling the little details. She had rather long eyelashes and her hair was a little messier than normal, essentially a bedhead. But with pigtails. Her lips would purse when she moved. He always had the most fun while drawing her. Something about the way her hair bobbed and curved when it fell down. About how her eyes were always so soft and sparkly, and her lashes so dark. About the highlight to her lips from the sun. About her _everything._

Of course, it was even more fun when he was in the drawing with her.

As a couple.

The pencil made short, quick lines as he sketched out his own features. Not as fun as Marinette. He supposed that was the thing with having a muse: nothing really excited them as much as their muse. Plus, because of his overall lack of self-esteem. Soon, Nathaniel felt himself getting lost in the scene.

The lines on the sheets.

The locks of hair that rested on the pillows.

The individual lashes on the closed eyes.

The sound of her soft breathing.

The smell of her shampoo.

The feeling of her lips. . .

"Eeee!" Nathaniel made an inhuman squeal, burying his face in his hands to cover his obvious blush. Why did he have to get so _shy_ about this? So _squeamish_? Did Marinette ever get like this? What did she do to stop it? The pencil lied still on the paper, on top of the unfinished drawing. Inside the panels were two sleepy people, the girl kissing his head. He was blushing and felt shy, but loved to watch it. Fight through the excitement and _draw._ Nathaniel forced himself to pick up the pencil and started sketching again. His smile grew a little wider as he drew the little lines and wrinkles on their clothes.

Little details could make a picture more enchanting than without.

 _Don't forget the hands,_ he told himself.

It was obvious that his parents heard his squealing but a few moments later, as his mother decided to come inside.

Immediately, he closed his sketchbook so she wouldn't see. She came over and petted his head, saying," Good morning, Nathaniel. Did you have a good time last night?" _I was afraid she'd ask that._ Normally, he wouldn't lie to his parents, but this time it was necessary. "Y-Yes, mom. I-It was great!" The woman smiled. She believed his partial lie. Thankfully, she didn't ask any further questions about everything that happened. "Don't forget your speech practice," she said before leaving him.

"O-Of course."

Mrs. Kurtzberg blew him a kiss and closed the door.

* * *

_Might as well get it done now._

Nathaniel opened up the drawer and pulled out some papers. Most of them were sentences, words, phrases, and conversations he had written down, and the last one was a photo of Marinette. He taped the photo to the mirror and organized the lines. Neither his counselor or his parents knew this was how he practiced speaking. They thought he was doing it the way the counselor had instructed him to do it, which was to read a packet out-loud to either himself or someone else. Nathaniel had written his own, and read it to "Marinette".

He tried doing it the other way.

It didn't work. In fact, his stutter got worse from that.

It made him more anxious and self-conscious than normal.

Clearing his throat, he started. "H-H-He-Hello, M-M-Marinette," he said before shaking his head." _That's not right._ Nathaniel took a deep breath and tried to feel relaxed. Keeping relaxed helped. He looked straight into her eyes. He tried again. "H-Hello, Marinette. H-How are y-you today?" The boy pictured what she would say in his head. _Hey, Nath! I'm doing good. How are you?_ "I-I'm okay. I-I've been wondering if. . .I c-c-could, u-um. . ." He was yelling at himself, _Spit it out already! Quit stuttering, you idiot!_ In his mind, Marinette would have that beautiful and innocent smile on her face, asking him, _what is it?_ It felt welcoming.

"I was wondering if I could ask you out."

_Perfect._

This was usually the part he got stuck on, as he never knew how Marinette would respond.

Would she say yes? No? An "I don't know" or a "Let me think about it."

Of course, their pretend-date to the masquerade messed with his head and what she would say if he asked her out for real. Normally, if she would say yes, he believed it would be out of pity or just to be nice. But now his mind was more divided than ever, stuck between the slimmest chance of Marinette _liking him,_ and being an unlovable tiny midget. Nathaniel let his head fall on the table, his brain just about dead from lack of being able to think. Why was he like this?

No wonder he was never able to make it past the first page.

No wonder his stuttering still hasn't been completely fixed yet (as this was something he had been practicing for some time).

He was three seconds away from eating the paper when he heard his phone vibrate.

Someone texted him.

Nathaniel turned it on and looked at his messages. Yup, one new message. But it was from a number he didn't know, nor had in his contacts. Although, in all honesty, he only had Rose, Juleka, and his parents in the contacts. He read the message and felt his heart stop.

_From: +33653257_  
_Hey Nath, it's Marinette. Could you come to the Louvre today? I need you to do something for me! BTW, can you bring your sketchbook?_

How the heck did she find out his phone number?

And what did she need him to do?

That text both thrilled and terrified him. On one hand, if she was going to the Louvre, it most likely meant she didn't get in trouble with her parents. Which was good. On the other, why did she need him with his sketchbook, why the Louvre, and _was anyone else going to be there?_ That was up to fate. Nathaniel pulled on a dark-red long sleeved shirt and faded turquoise jeans, grabbed his sketchbook and pencil, and headed out.

\-----

The artist stood anxiously several feet from the Louvre doors.

Was she even going to be in there?

Was she even there yet?

He would look stupid if he walked in there and waited for someone who was never going to come. Others would probably pity him beyond belief.

If he didn't go in, Marinette would be disappointed him.

Arg, such conflicting feelings!

But Marinette was kind to him, unlike a few others. She wouldn't _say_ she was coming if she wasn't going to. Unless she had to lie about her duties as Ladybug again. Nathaniel decided to just force himself to walk in there. One foot in front of the other. Walking. That was something he knew how to do, right? _I hope she doesn't know I was awake._ Just. keep. Walking. He cautiously walked down the stairs and looked around. There wasn't a lot of people, but there was the occasional small group of people up and about. Some were tourists and foreigners, other were groups of friends who decided to come for some reason.

_Is Marinette in a group? Or is she alone right now?_

Not alone, as she had the tiny red blob with her.

His legs trembled a little as he made his way down a corridor.

Where could she be?

Nathaniel eyed some of the portraits on the wall. Definitely one of his favored places to be. He looked straight ahead and saw none other than Marinette on one of the benches. Stepping closer, he noticed she seemed to have dozed off. Sitting down next to her, he gently tugged on the same lock of hair he did before, waking her up. She gave an embarrassed smile for falling asleep, saying," Hey, Nathaniel! I didn't see you." Because your eyes were closed. Marinette was very cute when she was timid like that, especially since she was usually rather outgoing and happy-go-lucky.

"H-Hi, M-Marinette. . . W-What did y-you need m-me for?"

"I just wanted to ask you to draw something for me," she said rather calmly. _She wants me to draw for her?!_ Although, it didn't make much sense. Marinette could draw fairly well, why did she need him to draw it? But it made him happy to know she wanted _him_ specifically to do it. Plus, none of her friends were there! They were alone together and it was fantastic. Nathaniel opened up his sketchbook to the next blank page and held his pencil in the drawing position. He asked," W-What did y-you have i-in mind?" "Well, I had this really interesting dream last night with these two people. . . I was thinking you could draw them for me. You know, since you're obviously so much better at it than me."

Asking him to draw her dream?

_Oh no, she saw the painting, didn't she?!_

He tried not to let his hands shake as he started drawing a basic form.

But right before he could draw legs on both of them, she stopped him. "Oh, er, one of them is actually a merman," she said.

Taking note and nodding, he sketched a fish tail instead of the legs.

Marinette had already told him the other one was a girl, and then he asked her to describe their faces and hair. She looked a bit perplexed, as though she were thinking of the right words to say. "Well the boy didn't really have a 'face', per say. There were holes through his head instead of eyes, and they shown the ocean behind him, and his mouth never opened, like it'd been sewn shut." Interesting, he thought as he drew little stitches on the merman's mouth. It may have been taken a tad too literal, but it added to the abstract meaning.

"The girl had these lines coming out of her eyes. . .like seams."

Like a mask.

Nathaniel sketched a singular line coming from the middle of each eye and down her cheeks to her jawline.

She described the boy's hair as," more like a blanket of blood than hair, dripping and sticking to his neck", the girl's hair as," galaxy slime in the form of hair."

How strange.

He tried his best to sketch it, trying to think of what slime and blood looks like. They both looked rather goopy, but whereas the girl's hair had more volume, the boy's hair was very flat. Tiny stars and planets were lightly drawn on her hair. Nathaniel looked back at Marinette, who appeared to be very pleased with the drawing so far. She rested her hand on his lap, making his heart skip a beat. They were already about an inch or two apart, and now they were even closer. Focus on the drawing, Nathaniel, and _not_ on Marinette.

For once.

The boy tried to make sure she couldn't see his blush and didn't make eye contact. He stuttered," W-W-W-Were t-t-they we-wearing anything i-in p-p-particular?" Marinette looked down for a brief moment and she looked a little concerned when she looked at him again. She spoke softly," The girl was wearing a crown and a dress. . .of eyes." Eyes? Did she just say _eyes?_ That definitely grabbed his attention, looking at her with a surprised expression. "Eyes?" Marinette nodded, pointing at her own very pretty blue eyes.

This had to be one of the oddest and most fascinating things he drew.

Nathaniel drew first a long strapless generic dress shape with several layers of lace and frills underneth, and then veil-sleeves that hung around the shoulders.

Then the eyes. A simple cross-shape like on her Ladybug costume.

"The boy was wearing a shell-necklace with a black spot on it."

Right. Nothing else. Just a shell.

He privately made little corrections and details to the two characters, wanting them to look perfect. It had to be perfect, because it was for Marinette. Some shading and hatching and cross-hatching and highlights was made. For a brief moment, he covered the page by holding the sketchbook up against his chest, scared to show her. Yet, she still had that clueless, innocent and beautiful smile on her face, asking," Can I see?" Was it even possible for some to be this wonderful?

Nathaniel cautiously handed her the book, picture still facing him.

She picked it from his hands, staring and examining his sketch.

"Nathaniel. . ."

_Don't look anxious._

"It's. . ."

_Ahhh! What's she going to say?!_

"Y-Yes?"

Silence.

"It's beautiful."

Nathaniel almost breathed a sigh of relief. She likes it. She looks ecstatic. He was so taken with her happiness he couldn't hear all of her comments and praise about the drawing. "Y-You can t-tear i-it out, i-if you'd l-like. . .," he said quietly. Knowing how hurtful it can feel to have a masterpiece destroyed, Marinette very carefully tore on the jagged line to have a clean cut. She put the sketchbook back on his lap and hugged him. "Thank you, Nath," she whispered. Which was better? Liking his art, or getting hugged?

They were both great, though.

"You're welcome."

_Not a stutter found._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While reading the first part of this, listen to the first several lines of My Worst Fear by Rascal Flatts. It's ridiculously fitting for this chapter and I didn't even base this off of that.
> 
> This may be one of the creepier chapters I will write.
> 
> Also when did I get to 13 chapters??? Like holy crap I think I write too much.
> 
> Why does my writing get more acknowledgement than my Nathanette art? *crippling sadness*
> 
> Spoilers for future chapters: Presentation and a kiss.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette works on her script, and send a few texts to none other than Juleka and Rose.

The girl carefully placed the drawing inside the frame, locking inside and standing it up where the photo of Adrien once was.

Now she can always look at it.

The dream Nathaniel had beautifully illustrated for her.

She spent a bit more than over an hour finding the perfect frame. It was blue with the waves of an ocean carved into it, matching the eyes of the merman. In addition, tiny hearts were painted and glued on. For the couple. They looked so happy together, too. Marinette wasn't 100% sure why she didn't tell him the girl was actually _her,_ but he did manage to get the smaller details accurate. She also wasn't sure why she couldn't figure out who the merman was. But she wanted to. Tikki flew out of her purse, smiling at the drawing. The kwami said," It's beautiful, Marinette!" "I know, Nathaniel really is an amazing artist," Marinette responded.

Her finger tips grazed the edges, staring at the drawing in awe.

The butterfly and the merman had something in common:

Red and blue.

The butterfly had red wings with blue "eyes", and the merman had blood-red hair and the blue ocean in his eyes.

This "lover" of hers would have red hair and blue eyes. Sadly, there were a _lot_ of people with that combination. Just at the Louvre, she saw 5 people with red hair and blue eyes. They had to be real, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't be having such persistent dreams about them. Before the dream of the merman, she had the butterfly dream constantly since it first happened. The same events playing over and over, and each time, she noticed more about the surroundings and the butterfly.

Noticing them made the dream more clear, more beautiful.

"You best be working on your script for the project now," Tikki told her.

In compensation for her staying out so late, her parents said she could only work on school work, no extracurricular activities or hanging out with friends.

They made an exception today because she was "meeting with Nathaniel for the project".

A lie, obviously.

Marinette had only written about half of the script before now, and the project was due relatively soon. She needed to work on it. Was Nathaniel writing anything? He wasn't speaking, he was acting. Maybe little notes on his movements. Her phone vibrated and saw it was a text from him with a photo attachment. She tapped the little box and read it.

_From: Nathaniel_   
_Hey, Marinette. I had a few ideas for your script. You don't have to use them, but I thought you might need a little help. Please don't mind my handwriting._

The photo was of a lined piece of paper with several points written on it.

His handwriting wasn't bad, in fact it was quite legible.

It was just unbelievably girly.

Like herself, he wrote in cursive. However, it was much finer in size, much more curved and slanted, and dotted his "I's" with little butterflies. What made him write like that? She remembered multiple instances where, in the back of the classroom, she heard Rose and Juleka lightly teasing him about it. At the those times, she didn't understand why because she never saw him write anything. Now she understood why. But it was cute, considering how he seemed on the outside.

And wow, does this boy like butterflies.

_From: Marinette_   
_Thanks, Nath._

Nathaniel knew more about the book than she did, so she was grateful for the notes. He even jotted down ideas for how to read the script and the kind of expression and position she should have while reciting. Leave it to Nath to save the day! Or rather, the presentation. It really was fascinating. In classes like math, science, or even P.E. and sometimes history and English, he didn't seem all that engaged. He was usually drawing in his sketchbook, unless the teacher was directly looking at him.

Little things grasped his effort and attention.

Things that allowed him to be creative, or spark inspiration in him.

Work that let him create art in many forms, and knowledge that would inspire him to draw from that.

When that happened, he went the full nine yards.

That was something even _she_ noticed.

Marinette opened up her textbook and started pulling things from the text, rewording it and done in an "essay" format. She made sure to add his notes on the side or before a line and highlighted them so she wouldn't forget. Perhaps she should write it the same way he did, with the butterflies and such? No, that's forgery, and Nathaniel might not like that. The script got her thinking as she worked, though. If Nathaniel was the one writing it, would he be doodling on it, or would he be keeping it blank? Sometimes, she would be helping the teacher organize tests and graded worksheets, and noticed he had the tendency to draw on the paper.

Drawing things like ladybugs and butterflies, little U.F.O.s, sometimes a pretty bird.

It amazed her that he only got in trouble for drawing in his sketchbook, not his tests.

If he was doing the script, he'd probably doodle little mermaids and fish on the paper.

Jagged Stone played quietly in the background as her pencil scribbled across the page. What kind of music did Nathaniel like? Sure, he was at Chloe's electoral campaign with Jagged there, but Chloe _invited_ everyone. He seemed like the kind of person who would listen to rock, along the lines of emo, but more recent events made her think otherwise. Nathaniel was quiet, and his artwork didn't carry the theme his appearance did. Would he like pop music? Romance? Definitely not metal. It would probably scare him to death.

Juleka and Rose might know.

She didn't want to bother Nathaniel immediately, as he was probably working on the project as well.

_From: Marinette_   
_To: Juleka, Rose_   
_Pardon my asking, but do you know what kind of music Nathaniel likes? I'm kind of curious as to know._

Not long after, she received a response.

_From: Juleka (and Rose)_   
_To: Marinette_   
_Yes, we do know! It was kind of a shocker when we first found out, since it opposes how he looks. He really likes slow songs and piano music, like the song that was playing at the dance. He said they're really beautiful and calming._   
_P.S. Is he okay? We saw him run out of the school, but he hasn't contacted us at all._

Piano? Slow?

Fascinating.

_From: Marinette_   
_To: Juleka and Rose_   
_That's really interesting that he'd be into that sort of thing. No one in our class really listens to piano music. Yes, Nathaniel is okay, but he's still a little shaken from Chloe. I saw him today at the Louvre._

Juleka and Rose weren't two people she communicated with often, just like Nathaniel before Adrien dumped her. But they still talked from time to time about their days, like school and their friends. Juleka was a bit of a wallflower, but she didn't have nearly as much trouble as Nathaniel did when it came down to socializing, and she didn't stutter. Rose talked to just about everyone (except Chloe and Sabrina) with such excitement and charisma, she was quite different than the other two.

In this situation, talking to them was one of the rare times she wanted to hold a _longer_ conversation with them.

Why?

Because they knew more about Nathaniel than she did.

And right now, he was one person on her mind.

Even if she didn't understand why.

Never before had she felt so. . .curious. So intrigued by someone else. Not like this. Marinette had been interested in becoming friends with others before, but she had never been so eager to learn about them. She's felt curious about the characters of others, but not so consistently. Not even with Adrien has she felt this way. With Adrien, just looking at him gave her an adrenaline rush and made her feel oh, so excited. She wanted to be near him, and learn about his life. This excitement gave her the determination to pursue him.

And look where that got her.

Nathaniel was different. She enjoyed his presence in the room, making her feel at peace and calmed. She wanted to learn more about this quiet and shy boy. But she wasn't in love with him. Every boy she ever had a crush on made her feel _calm._ Not one, with the edition of just how many crushes she had. Which there were a lot, though she never dated any of them. All of them were like Adrien, in a sense: tall, handsome, athletic, kind (for the most part), and some were even a bit flirty. Nathaniel was none of those things. Well, he was kind of pretty, which can relate back to handsome, but that was it.

He was a friend.

An easily frightened friend, especially around her.

_Is Nathaniel. . .afraid of me?_

That was the topic of her next message to Juleka and Rose.

_To: Juleka and Rose_   
_From: Marinette_   
_Is Nathaniel afraid of me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to the In The Rain music from the Umbrella Scene while writing this. Good music for writing. Probably one of my definite favorite parts of the show (Next to Nathanette and the overall writing and develupment)
> 
> Marinette is in unconscious denial of her feelings for Nathaniel.
> 
> Nathaniel is being overwhelmed by his throbbing feelings for Marinette.
> 
> (Spoiler: Plot.)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel gets a little more advice from Rose.

"Arrgh!"

Nathaniel pulled on his hair in frustration, despite having been told hundreds of times _not_ to.

Anyone else would think he's getting ticked off by someone, like Chloe or Kim.

But he was frustrated with himself.

Just before he nearly fell asleep at the desk, Juleka sent him a screenshot. Marinette had been texting with her and Rose, asking them small questions about him. Normally, he would be a little flattered by her curiosity in him, but the screenshot made him feel otherwise. A question that he never thought he'd have to hear from someone like her.

_Is Nathaniel afraid of me?_

He obviously didn't want her to think he _was_ , because he wasn't. At least, not really. Nathaniel loved her more than anything and wanted to stay by her side for the rest of their lives. He wanted to tell her that everyday. But his introverted and shy personality prevented him from saying so. It was understandable why Marinette might suspect that. Hearing his voice and seeing her made his heart pound and made him shiver, making him more timid than normal. Nathaniel wasn't afraid _of_ Marinette, he was afraid of telling her his feelings and getting rejected.

Afraid of the pointing fingers and laughter.

Or worse, someone telling her without him knowing.

That was really scary.

Even worse, he knew he needed to tell Marinette that he wasn't really afraid of her.

But he didn't know how.

Nathaniel spent nearly an hour typing and deleting whatever he tried to say. _The truth is_ \-- Deleted. _Please don't think_ \-- Nope. _I'm not_ \-- Not even close. He couldn't get the right wording to tell her the truth. They all sounded horrible. They all sounded vague. They all raised more questions than needed. He couldn't tell her he wasn't afraid of her without revealing his crush on her. Ugh, words. They taunted him and mocked his inability to speak and communicate like a normal human being. _Maybe I should wait until the right time._

As if that'll ever happen.

What turn of events would allow him to tell her the truth without sounding stupid?

None.

This was the sort of thing he genuinely needed help with.

This sort of thing called for Juleka and Rose.

The red-head shakily pressed the numbers and listened to the ringing. _Please pick up. Please, please!_ Something clicked, and he saw Rose's face. "Nathaniel? Is this about. . .Marinette?" Why else would he be making the first move and calling _her_? He kept his voice low in case of someone hearing their conversation," I-I d-d-don't k-know h-how to t-t-tell her th-the truth. . ." "That you have a crush on her?" "N-No! H-How t-to t-t-tell her t-that I-I'm not a-a-afraid of her. . .w-without te-telling her t-that. . ." Nathaniel noticed her gasp, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, poor sweet Nathaniel! You really do need help, don't you?"

He nodded, feeling quite vulnerable and helpless.

"Did you think of waiting for the right moment to come, when the right words find you," she asked, having a fantasy-romance daydream, from the look in her eyes.

"T-That will ne-never happen. . ."

"You're so doubtful, no wonder you can't tell her!"

Rose was a natural optimist, and as a result, she wasn't nearly as self-conscious as Juleka or him (although Nathaniel really dropped underneath them in that). She was the kind of person everyone liked being around, even if they weren't friends. Plus, she knew exactly what to tell someone when they needed it. Rose was the person he went to when he needed help with his words, and Juleka when he needed help with his behavior and actions(as Rose tended to sink a little in that).

He propped his head on his hand, leaning a bit.

"You two are doing a drama for your presentation, right?"

"Y-Yes. . .So?"

"What if instead of telling her directly, you told it with your acting?"

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow," What?" Rose said many crazy things he didn't understand, and this was one of them. "Instead of telling her verbally, you tell her in your acting. With your expressions and actions. Drop some hints to tell the truth. _Imply_ it." Tell her in secret behind closed doors. Tell her without the words that troubled him. Make a gesture and a face to say he wasn't afraid. These words repeated several times in his mind, sending images of what would happen. He asked," Y-You want m-me to send her a g-gesture instead of t-telling her?" She nodded, smiling at him.

"I believe you could do it."

Her encouragement triggered his own smile.

"Thank you, Rose," he said softly.

She swatted away his thanks, saying," Don't thank me until after you've tried it, silly. We don't know it'll work yet!"

"A-And you call m-me doubtful."

Nathaniel ended the call. With Rose's new words of guidance, he started drawing in new plans for the drama. He obviously wouldn't tell Marinette about these changes, as she would most likely question his reason why. That was something he didn't want to tell her. Not yet, anyway. It was clear that Marinette understanding that he wasn't afraid of her were the hopes for Juleka, Rose, and him.

A message from Juleka popped on the screen.

_From: Juleka_   
_Good luck, Nath. Hope she gets the message._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have anything to say about this other than I've been drawing Nathanette a lot and delaying the posting.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A presentation about The Little Mermaid.

From the moment she woke up, Marinette felt sick to her stomach.

It was probably from anxiety for the presentation.

Maybe is was also at the thought of Nathaniel being scared of her.

Juleka never got back to her on the question, at least not directly. That meant there was still a sliver of chance of him fearing her. In addition to those, she didn't get much sleep. She was awake a great portion of the night, memorizing her lines. It wouldn't be good if she forgotten them. Then again, neither would falling asleep in class. Marinette just needed caffeine in her bloodstream to get her through the day.

She went back to the cafe, the same one she met Nathaniel at, her bag hanging from her shoulders.

But, unexpectedly, the artist came walking out, holding two cups in his hands.

"Gah!" They jumped in unison, equally startled.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you," Marinette apologized. He had a small smile, appearing to have recovered from the scare. "I-It's okay. . ." Nathaniel remembered the cups and handed one of them to her. She looked at the black boxes and saw it was her usual mocha. How did he know? "How did you know I was getting coffee," the bluenette asked. He blushed, saying," I-I saw your activity level on Facebook this morning. . .Y-You didn't get off until about o-one last night, s-so I figured you'd be sleepy. . ."

She patted his shoulder, thanking him for being so considerate.

He told her she was welcome.

Marinette eyeballed his drink again. It was hot chocolate again, and now she had the mindset to ask him about it. She asked," Do you not like coffee, Nath?" Nathaniel was slightly thrown off by her question, but shook his head. "M-My parents don't let me d-drink it. T-They say I'm a-anxious enough as is. . ." Fair enough. He was an easily scared person, and more than once she's noticed his breathing patterns and trembling. Caffeine would probably make it a lot worse. "I can understand that," she said, sipping from the warm paper traveler's mug.

Looking at Nathaniel filled her head with questions.

One of them being why he let his hair stay long.

He was a pretty boy, maybe even prettier than Adrien. But his hair covered his face, masking that beauty and hiding it away. Why did he never talk to others? He was pleasant to listen to, and even his stutter was charming. Overall, Nathaniel was. . .well, Nathaniel. Nathaniel was kind, polite, shy, and had a quiet charm. He was interesting. To start some small talk, Marinette asked," Are you ready to present? Are you nervous?" He didn't look at her, but nodded. "I-I've never _performed_ in f-front of others before. . ." That was true. From all the school plays, musicals, and other performances, Nathaniel never participated on stage. He was always working in the background.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Nath."

That sentence was a partial lie.

They were both silently praying their clumsy awkwardness wouldn't completely wreck it.

They both knew about each other's obvious nervous behavior pertaining to the presentation, even though they were both trying their best not to show it.

Interestingly enough, he was wearing a light turquoise shirt with a scale pattern, and his jeans were a darker shade. Probably for the presentation. Marinette's eyes wandered back to his hands. She noticed there was something different from the time she felt his fingers. His nails almost looked manicured, the tips filed to match the shape of the nail bed. Why would an artist care about his nails of all things? Marinette thought back to times in class. Sometimes one or two of his nails would be painted, maybe with a pattern on them. Other times, his eyelids would be stained. _Oh right, he's friends with Juleka and Rose_. Chances are, they knew what a pretty boy he was. They probably pampered him from time to time for fun, and the after affects stuck on him for longer than intended. Did he mind? It's not like he was the kind of boy to scream about his masculinity and hatred over all the little girly things.

Nathaniel was a bit of a doormat in that department.

Her cup felt lighter and she rotated the bottom, feeling for mocha.

It was empty.

Looking to her left, she saw Nathaniel had finished his as well.

The bluenette tossed the empty paper cup in the trash can with her friend.

It amazed her that he got everything right about her usual. Even the cream and five sugar packets. His attention to detail was astonishing. "M-Marinette, look out!" Marinette was brought back down to earth, and realized her face was about 2 inches away from the stairs. Nathaniel was holding on to her arm, keeping her from smashing her face in. It seemed she was daydreaming a bit too much, and didn't see that they had reached the school, or the stairs. Her clumsiness was already kicking in, but thankfully, Nathaniel helped in prevent too much damage.

He pulled the girl back on her feet, looking up and down. "A-Are you hurt anywhere," he asked, looking concerned.

She smiled, his concern for her curving lips. "No, no, I'm fine thanks to you," she responded.

The red-head sighed with relief.

_What is this feeling?_

\-----

Marinette anxiously tapped her nails on the desk, every so often turning around to look back at Nathaniel, who seemed equally anxious if not more. He was quietly tapping his foot on the ground, nervously looking around the room. For some reason, she just wanted to go back there, give him a hug, and reassure him that everything was okay. Was that strange? It couldn't be! If a nice person saw delicate-little Nathaniel looking scared like that, they'd want to comfort him, too. . . Right?

As Rose walked to her seat, Marinette noticed she patted Nath's back and gave him a thumbs up and a wink.

_What?!_

What did that mean?

And why was she so curious as to know why and what?

Juleka was smiling, and seemed to be making kissing gestures with her hands.

Red-faced, he looked away.

Rose held her friend's hands down, and could have sworn the blonde girl said smiling," Don't tease him, Juleka!"

It was at times like this where she wished one of her Ladybug powers was mind-reading, so she could know what was going through their heads. What were they implying? Why was Rose giving him a thumbs up? Was there some plan in place she didn't know about? Because it certainly seemed that way. Wait. . . For some reason, she felt her heart sink. _Does he have a crush on someone? And he was going to make a move?_

Nathaniel wasn't the type of guy to make the first move, unless someone had his arm pinned behind his back.

He was too shy.

And all the sudden he's going to do something with some girl?

_Psh. As if she could appreciate him like me. . . Wait, why am I saying that?_

More students filled the classroom. Right away, she saw Adrien and Chloe. Chloe was hugging his arm, but he wasn't trying to push her away. In fact, he looked _happy_ , and so did Chloe. Come to think of it, he did seem to be talking to more girls since he dumped her. Nino and Alya walked in holding hands, as usual. They'd been dating for longer than her and Adrien, and they seemed to be really happy in their relationship. Ivan and Mylene came in at the same time, too. Was today National Holding Hands day? Because it seemed that most of her classmates were holding hands or touching in some way.

It felt like Valentine's day, just more affectionate.

She felt left out.

No one was holding her hand.

The teacher's desk had been moved aside for the project.  
  
Miss Bustier called for everyone's attention, and they all went back to their own seats. Although, Mylene and Ivan shared a small kiss before separating. No one minded at all. The teacher was leaning a bit on her desk as she said," As you may already know, we will be doing our fairy tale presentations today. I'm expecting good things from such a talented group of children! So, who would like to volunteer to go first?" In about 0.2 seconds, Chloe raised her hand, her usual better-than-you look plastered to her face.

As you can imagine, it was actually very boring.

Sabrina had brought in a decorated tiny theater with puppets resembling Snow White and the various other characters. They were marionette puppets, so she controlled them from above. Chloe was doing a poor narration of Snow White, talking about how Snow White was far more beautiful than the queen, inside and out, and was just not helping with the puppets. Sabrina was not that good at being a puppeteer, either. Marinette swore the dolls were going to snap at the strings.

But, because Chloe was a very "persuasive" person, the class applauded them. (Although, it was a very sleepy and almost sarcastic applaud).

Miss Bustier gestured them back to their seats, and said," Thank you, Chloe and Sabrina. Now, who would like to go next?" The class was silent for a near minute. Everyone looked at each other, all of them even a little bit scared of going in front of the class. Marinette knew the only way to get any kind of a hold on her anxiety was to raise her hand. Just to get everything over with. Her hand was a little shaky as it went up into the air, everyone's eyes on her. The teacher was more than happy with her volunteering. She stepped up to the front of the classroom, Nathaniel following promptly.

He had taken off his jacket, revealing the small but detailed Sharpie tattoos he had on his forearms, and a red flower in his hair, just like the one The Little Mermaid had.

Before they turned around to face their audience, he had given her a smile of reassurance. A very comforting smile that spread to her own lips. Marinette took her seat in the high stool that was set there previously for Chloe, and Nathaniel took his place on the "stage". She took a moment to remember her paper and started narrating.

"The Little Mermaid is a tale of love and tragedy. . ."

_Just like me and Adrien,_ she thought before continuing. Out of her mouth came a rather paraphrased story of The Little Mermaid. From the beginning, about the mermaid's garden, to when she was told to kill her prince with a knife. Nathaniel's movements followed her words to the letter. He looked so graceful, the way he acted out the scenes. It was almost like an interpretive dance. He was also very convincing, looking as though any hurt the mermaid felt he was feeling as well.

Right now, in this moment, it felt wonderful, just watching him.

Whenever she couldn't remember a word, he would give her a little sign as a reminder. Either with his hands, his eyes, or his entire being.

But every time their gazes met, she could see stars and life inside those ocean eyes of his.

It was beautiful.

The scene in which the mermaid was to pierce the prince's heart was coming very soon. It might be a challenge not to cry, as it was sad. She cried the first time she read it. That prince couldn't have been worth it to have fallen for another woman. _"The little mermaid drew back the crimson curtain of the tent, and beheld the fair bride with her head resting on the prince’s breast. She bent down and kissed his fair brow, then looked at the sky on which the rosy dawn grew brighter and brighter; then she glanced at the sharp knife, and again fixed her eyes on the prince, who whispered the name of his bride in his dreams. She was in his thoughts, and the knife trembled in the hand of the little mermaid: then she flung it far away from her into the waves; the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood."_

Nathaniel was holding a gag knife, that of which he was already given approval from Miss Bustier. He painted it himself, and it was done exceptionally well.

When the "mermaid", a.k.a. Nathaniel, was to be facing the prince, he was facing Marinette. He was looking her right in the eyes. Eyes filled the love and sadness. She saw his lips move, but couldn't hear any words. It looked like he said," I love you." With the tears in his eyes, he threw the knife across the floor and watched it hit the bottom of the wall. In the story, the mermaid was dying. In real life, Nathaniel's eyes were closing, and he was falling to the floor. Marinette's words stayed with the plot, but her head was still stuck on the nonexistent things he said. Was he really meaning to say that, or was she just imagining it?

Before she knew it, the presentation was over, and his back was to the audience.

The class clapped eagerly, clearly much more impressed with them than Chloe and Sabrina.

Nathaniel turned around, clearly unable to hide his smile from Marinette.

Even Miss Bustier was impressed. "Thank you, Nathaniel and Marinette, that was lovely!"

The two of them walked back to their seats, and did a concealed high-five in congratulations.

\-----

"I have to say, Nath, I didn't think you'd be such a fantastic actor!"

Marinette stayed after class with him, watching him put the gag knife in the proper case. He smiled shyly, saying," T-Thank you. . . You did pretty well yourself." She showed her enthusiasm more than he did. " I felt like I was watching a reenactment from a professional! It looked so real!" Nathaniel giggled from her excitement. "I-I'm just glad we didn't screw up too bad!"

He pulled his bag over his shoulder and she followed him down the stairs to the courtyard.

But as soon as they got to the bottom, they heard a loud shrilled laughter and the ground shook. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger.
> 
> I looked at the last time I added a chapter and saw I hadn't updated in over week (or more)!
> 
> Like wow where did the time go.
> 
> In the story is a direct quote from The Little Mermaid.
> 
> So I didn't write it.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Cat Noir fight a frosty villain.
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE: If you dislike any of the following, or can't handle them, I suggest you skip this chapter and go to the next one, unless you want to torture yourself.
> 
> Crazy akuma, character death, crying, injuries, possible denial.

As soon as they got to the bottom, they heard a loud shrilled laughter and the ground shook.

Nathaniel nearly fell down, but Marinette caught him before he could hit the shaking ground.

The shaking stopped.

Everyone was confused. He turned to her, asking," W-Was that an earthquake?" She looked up at the sky, which was becoming dark and cloudy rapidly. "I don't think earthquakes come with storm clouds or laughing. . .," the bluenette responded. Everyone was peaking outside, and they ran to the doors to see for themselves. Cold-wintry air hit their faces. It wasn't winter yet, though. There was even little flecks of snow and hail falling to the ground. Rose said, hiding behind Juleka," This i-isn't normal." She was shivering.

Marinette looked at Nathaniel, and he was ghost white, his pupils dilated.

He was staring down the road.

Her head turned and she was struck with a pang of nausea.

On the street and sidewalk were _bodies,_ but no, they weren't dead. They were half-frozen. Some of them were shaking.

There was no doubt about it, this had to have been caused by an akumatized victim. She was thinking about where they could be when she felt someone squeezing her hand. It was Nathaniel, holding her hand and looking very scared. _This can't mean anything, right? He's just scared and I happened to be standing right next to him!_ They all stepped out on the sidewalk, and saw someone walking down in their direction.

It was a rather tall lady, with light blue skin and long white hair that ended like falling snow. Her dress was made of ice and snow, icicles appearing as hearts hung from cold chains. She had eyes and teeth like a cat, and an insane expression.

But as she approached the students, something was very off.

She didn't just _assault them_. She _examined_ them. Studied them, as if she was staring straight into their souls.

Marinette couldn't move. Her body was paralyzed with fear, and she definitely couldn't move to go transform. Tikki kept headbutting her side from within her purse. The lady was even more terrifying up close, which by close, she really meant about 10 feet away. She started giggling, first with a chuckle and branched off to a horrible and horrifying laugh. At her long-nailed finger tips appeared a black diamond-esque stone. The villain said something, but Marinette could only make out a small piece.

". . .perfect power source. . ."

The black stone went _flying_ in their direction.

That's when she realized the stone was aimed directly at _her._

She braced herself for impact, shut her eyes tight, but didn't feel anything.

The girl opened her eyes and in a split second, she saw Nathaniel jump in front of her, the stone piercing his chest, and watched him get knocked back several feet away. Marinette's heart shattered. Her friend was just hit by an unknown object to save her. The attack made the other students run, although a few stayed behind and hid in the school. She knew she had to transform now.

Marinette ducked behind the staircase, and Tikki flew out of her purse. She was desperate, saying," Tikki, I need to transform _now!_ I have to save Nathaniel!" The activation began, and in seconds she was Ladybug, running to his side.

Ladybug shook him, gently hitting his face, praying for him to wake up.

His eyes could barely open, and his voice was hoarse. ". . .L-Ladybug. . ."

She turned to face the witch who harmed the boy, furious.

"You _monster!_ What have you done to him," Ladybug shouted. The lady smirked and placed her hand on her chest, saying," Why, dear girl, I am not Monster, I am Ice Queen! But I will accept the compliment!"

Ice queen turned on her heels and flew, enabling her to follow.

But before, she picked up Nathaniel in her arms and carried him swiftly to Juleka and Rose, who were hiding behind the doors. She handed him to the violet-streaked girl, saying," Watch over him for now." Juleka nodded, Rose said," Good luck, Ladybug!"

Ladybug pulled out her yoyo and started chasing the villain.

* * *

 

Not minutes later, Cat Noir joined her, running across building rooftops.

"Fancy seeing you here, Ladybug," he said, less flirty than normal.

She was too worried to give his greeting a second thought. All of Paris was nearly frozen over, with citizens half frozen and nearly dead on the ground. He could see the concern on her face, and asked," Is everything alright?" That had to be the worst thing to ask in this situation. Ladybug stopped cold in her tracks to respond. "No, I'm not okay! Paris is getting terrorized by this Ice Queen, and one of my closest friends could be in serious danger right now! We need to find her now!" The stress caused her to tell at the cat. He looked hurt. She sighed, saying," I'm sorry. I'm just worried. Come on, let's find Ice Queen."

Ladybug shivered from the freezing wind and rubbed her arms.

This villain seemed to be very determined to freeze everyone to death.

* * *

 

Ice Queen stood on the floor of the Eiffel Tower, which was basically an ice pyramid at this point.

Interestingly, it seemed to be the most frozen-over place in Paris, most likely because it was where she was standing. She twirled and rocked on her clear heels and toes, cackling and singing. From her arm extended a long thin tube, similar to that of a syringe, with dashes on the side. A blue opaque liquid was inside, and it was around 3/4's of the way to the top. Ice Queen smirked, saying," Beautiful. At this rate, I'll have all the power I need!" The tube retracted and she spun again, sliding across the ice. Right now, she seemed very joyous despite everyone around her were on the verge of death.

"Ice Queen!"

She turned and saw a Ladybug and a _Chat Noire._

They stood on the railing, prepared to fight this cold villain.

But she just kept smiling, even doing a curtsy and said," Why, isn't this a pleasant surprise! I never would have imagined my company while destroying Paris would be Ladybug and Cat Noir of all people! I am simply honored to have you here!"

Her somewhat ditsy and almost optimistic behavior infuriated Ladybug. She could have at least _acted_ like a normal villain instead of this absolutely insane mirror of ice. Up close like this, she could see Ice Queen was holding more of those black stones in her hand, ready to strike them. Remembering what happened to Nathaniel, she called to Cat Noir," Don't let the diamonds hit you!" In the blink of an eye, the shiny black objects came hurling at them. Ladybug dodged the stones to the best of her ability, but a few hit her arms and legs. Instead of causing her to fall down, the stones made small rips in her costume, which was she originally believed couldn't be damaged. The skin underneath was cut and was beginning to turn dark around the wounds.

She felt dizzy.

Cat Noir was twirling his baton and smashing the diamonds.

"Ladybug!"

_Don't you dare fall now._

_Keep fighting._

She had to keep fighting for Paris and all of the citizens. Especially Nathaniel. _Oh, Nath. . ._ The memory of his eyes came flooding through her mind. Those beautiful ocean eyes, filled with the stars that fell from the sky. It made her heart ache, and filled her with the burning passion to take down the queen. He was someone worth fighting for. Ladybug clenched her yoyo in her hand and looked over at Cat Noir. He was trying to directly hit her but that clearly wasn't working. She had so many of those little black crystals one needed to avoid it was virtually impossible to get an attack in otherwise.

A single stone flew straight at his staff, slicing through it and the edges near the break turned black.

Their eyes widened.

Their weapons were unbreakable, how could she just split his staff like that?

The diamond came back to her like a boomerang, now glowing brightly. Ice queen laughed, looking down at them and feeling rather confident in herself. It was clear she thought nothing of the two heroes. She skipped to the edge, stepping on the railing and falling backwards, and stormy blizzard followed her feet. Ladybug jumped over the railing, trying her best to run after the icy villain. Cat Noir followed promptly, a worried expression on his face. He was clearly worried about her.

Who wouldn't be? She was hurt and pushing herself to keep going.

Her yoyo was thrown multiple times, trying to grab Ice Queen but kept failing. She was too far away and it was too snowy.

Soon they'd be running across the Pont Des Arts bridge, and it was no doubt going to be _hard._ They haven't been able to get hits in at all, and she managed to hurt them in more ways than one. Ladybug stopped running, slipping a little on the icy ground, and stared down at her yoyo for about five seconds. They needed a bit of _luck._

_"Lucky Charm!"_

From the red and black yoyo came a flare gun. Definitely one of the stranger things her power has conjured. _Now think, Ladybug, think!_ Ladybug looked around for an idea. She spotted _Ice Queen, the bridge, and Cat Noir._ That's it! She whispered to her partner," Cat, when we get on the bridge, run in front of her and use your Cataclysm!" Understanding her plan, he nodded and started to speed up. Ladybug just hoped it would work.

They were then on top of the Pont Des Arts, and the plan was set in motion.

Cat Noir slid on the ice fast, getting ahead of their opponent. "Cataclysm!" His hand dragged on the ground, the surface turning black and beginning to crack and fall.

Ice Queen was caught off guard.

Ladybug fired the signal flare at the ice, melting it near where the woman was.

She stumbled and fell back. Ice Queen couldn't walk where there wasn't ice or frost already present.

A large hole caved, Ice queen trapped in the debris.

_Now's my chance!_ Ladybug swung to her adversary, stopping at the frozen lady and holding her dress's collar in her hand. She was taken by fury and worriment. Even at the foot of her foe, Ice Queen still had a small smirk on her face. Now, she needed answers. She hissed," What did you do to him and Cat Noir's staff? What are those crystals?" The villain seemed to be melting ever so slightly from the heated flare and Ladybug's own body heat. She let out a chuckle and said some of the most terrifying words the red heroine ever heard.

"I stole every last bit of heat and love from his body."

Silence.

"W-What?"

"That's right, I stole it! Those crystals steal the heat and emotions from the things they touch, from humans to simple weapons. The stronger they feel, the faster they die, and the more energy I'll have to freeze over Paris."

_Die._

Fighting back her tears, she threw a low punch to Ice Queen's face, which burned the material of her hand and left black wounds on the skin. Her legs were feeling weak from the stinging feeling radiating from Ice Queen. Cat Noir attempted to grab the tube in her arm, and got his hand burned in the process. He shook it a bit. The tube had dark violet lids on both ends. It had to be where the akuma was hiding. It just had to be.

They didn't have much time left, did they?

He threw the tube to Ladybug, who shattered it on the ground.

A black butterfly came flying out.

"Time to de-evilize!"

The butterfly was caught.

The butterfly was purified and sent into the world.

Her earrings began to beep faster. So many things were running through her mind. So many, in fact, she forgot to throw up her charm and reverse the damage. Right now, she needed to see Nathaniel. Ladybug hooked her yoyo on the nearest building, and began to fly to the school. Her body was burning from the black crystals and the world was becoming a little fuzzy.

When she neared the school, she lost her grip and fell to the ground. As she tried to stand up, Ladybug saw she still had the flare gun in her hand. She threw it up into the air as she changed back to Marinette, Tikki getting thrown out of her jewels, all of the snow vanishing and any damage being undone.

But something was wrong.

Her injuries weren't healed.

Tikki looked quite hurt as well.

But if she wasn't healed, does that mean. . .?

_Oh no._

Marinette staggered inside the school, and saw Nathaniel's limp body in the courtyard. It seemed the students who were there had taken the notion to hide during Ice Queen's rule. But Nathaniel was left there. She tried to hop over to him, and ended up crawling on top of him. Tikki had flown into her jacket, and she could feel the kwami lose consciousness. Marinette gently patted his cheek, but no response. She shook him, with no response. She listened to his chest. No heartbeat. Panic and fear set in.

That's when she realized it.

She loved Nathaniel.

The boy who had always been there.

She loved him more than anything else.

And he was _dead._

Tears streamed down her face as she violently shook her love and near-screamed,"Nathaniel? Nathaniel! Nathaniel, please wake up! Please! Please don't die!" Hysteria had set in and her head felt heavy. She herself was going to pass out, perhaps die as well. If that was the case, there was one last thing she needed to do.

Marinette lowered herself and kissed his chilled lips.

That was the last thing she remembered before the world turned pitch black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably the most poorly written chapter in my opinion.
> 
> Do not leave a comment on this chapter, just go straight to the next one.
> 
> Like, chill. This is not the end.


	18. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprise.

"W-Where. . .am. . .I?"

Marinette's eyes opened slowly, revealing a place she didn't remember falling asleep in.

She blinked a few times before her vision cleared and took in the sight. It looked like a hospital room. It _was_ a hospital room. A curtain separated her from whatever was to her right. She was in a hospital gown and was hooked up to an oxygen tank, with the mask and everything. The places where the crystals hit her body were bandaged up, and a few places seemed to be stitched. So she _didn't_ die? Marinette breathed a sigh of relief and saw a doctor walk in. The lady's face bore a smile as she noticed Marinette awake and seemingly okay.

"How wonderful, you're awake!"

Marinette watched as the doctor came up, writing something on her clipboard.

"Um, what happened? How long have I been asleep?"

She put her clipboard down and put the stethoscope over the girl's heart, saying," Well, we suspect you were hit with a car or two when that nasty villain came and froze Paris. Don't worry, you only slept for about 12 hours, you haven't missed anything." In the movies, the protagonist would sleep for days, weeks even, after experiencing a major accident like that, and thank goodness they didn't know the truth. That would've been an awkward thing to try and explain.

The doctor smiled at her.

"You're very lucky, Marinette. When you were brought here, we didn't have any spare blood bags of your type while performing surgery for an internal cut, but a friend of yours donated his, even though he was low on blood himself."

_He?_

Who is _he?_

"Uh, who?" She looked perplexed. The doctor smiled and pointed at the curtain, saying," See for yourself."

She left the room, leaving Marinette to see who her "friend" was.

Hesitantly, she pulled back the curtain and saw a familiar face in the other bed. It was Nathaniel, and he seemed to have dozed off. He, too, was in a hospital gown and his leg was in a cast, elevated a bit. For a moment, she just stared. It was a wonder how she didn't see how beautiful he was before, considering how long they've known each other. The beds were close, so she could gently nudge his arm to wake him up.

His eyelids fluttered a bit before fully waking up and flinched when he saw Marinette staring at him.

"Oh, Marinette. I didn't see you."

How could you, you were asleep!

She giggled. Back to the task at hand. How was he alive? She couldn't hear his heartbeat. Marinette looked him dead in the eyes and asked," Nathaniel. . .how are you alive? What happened after I blacked out?" He was thrown off by her question. They sat in silence for a few moments, waiting for him to find the right words. He exhaled.

"Well, for a while, I thought I was dead. But I wasn't, and you were unconcious and we were both torn up pretty bad. So I dragged you to the hospital and we were put in the emergency room for a long time. I-I think they put me to sleep but I don't remember exactly."

It was her kiss that revived him.

It was Nathaniel who brought her there.

"When I woke up, I asked if you were okay. The doctors said they didn't have enough blood to fix the tear in your lung, so I donated mine since we're the same type, even though they asked me to reconsider. . ." That explains the oxygen tank. She wanted to squeeze him. He gave her the blood he was low on, and risked hurting himself more by taking her there. It made her wonder how far he was willing to go for her sake. Nathaniel sheepishly toyed with a thin lock of his hair, and the room was left awkward and quiet. Marinette went to tuck her hair behind her ear when she realized _she wasn't wearing her Ladybug earrings._

She may or may not have verbally screamed and startled Nathaniel so bad he almost fell off the bed.

Marinette frantically patted and looked for them on the bed.

How could she have lost them?!

Nathaniel made a weak attempt at clearing his throat and asked," Are you looking for these?" She looked out at his hand that he held out and saw her earrings. "You weren't allowed to be wearing them during the operation, so I held on to them for you," he said quietly. Saved by the boy, she thought. Marinette took them from his hand, saying," Thank you." He smiled at her. "You're welcome. . .," he started and leaned in close, well as close as he could, to her ear, whispering,". . . _Ladybug_."

Oh crap.

He knew.

She did a fake laugh and said," W-What? I'm not Ladybug, hehehe! How could _I_ be _Ladybug!_ Heh. . ." Nathaniel's eyes were half-opened and an eyebrow was raised above his head. He wasn't convinced in the slightest. "You can't convince me otherwise, Mari. You're Ladybug." Marinette sighed and asked," How long did you know?" He looked down at his hands, which were folded and his thumbs were twiddling a bit. "Since I got to see Ladybug up close for myself in person. . . After that, it just clicked. . ." She thought back to his comics, the ones he crossed out. The ones where he saved her.

"Is that why you crossed out those drawings?"

He didn't dare look at her.

A slight nod of the head.

Nathaniel forced himself to look in her eyes. She almost looked. . . Guilty. "I just thought, you were already a hero! You wouldn't need one. . ." he told her, before muttering softly under his breath,". . .especially one like me. . ." He was pitying himself. He didn't think he could be her hero. The sight hurt the bluenette.

"No."

He looked up at her, confused.

She grinned.

"You were _exactly_ the hero I needed to save me."

The boy had a small smile and laughed," I would hug you, but the doctors said I'm not allowed to move." That was understandable, seeing as how he was in a cast and probably had as many stitches as her. A single thought entered her mind, and now was the time to do just that. Marinette took off the oxygen mask, scooted over to his bed, and before he could even ask, she kissed his lips quickly.

When she pulled away, she was looking at a red-faced Nath.

His mouth was slightly open, but he wasn't saying anything. Just a small squeak, really.

Marinette laughed. "Did I shock you?" He nodded, his lips closed tight. She brushed his hair away from his face, saying," Then let's try that again, shall we?" She kissed him again, and this time he was more than ready to kiss her back. This time, it was a little longer, and when they separated, there were tears streaming down the boy's face. Was he upset? "Did I do something wrong?" Nathaniel realizes his eyes were wet and the kindest and most genuine smile she ever saw showed on his face. He wiped his tears, and said," No! I'm just. . .really happy is all."

He liked her.

They stayed there in a hug, staring over each other's shoulders in the quiet room.

She asked small questions to break the silence.

"Why is your hair so long?"

"You said you liked it."

"How come you don't talk to our classmates more often."

"I guess I'm just awkward."

"How long did you love me?"

"Since the moment we first met."

All this time, he loved her. That meant he loved her for over ten years now. Only after a decade did she return his feelings for him. She tousled his scarlet mop of hair, watching it fall back in place. This moment, right now, was perfect. Everything was quiet, everything was okay. No one was crying or dying. Just smiles and heartfelt eyes. . .

"Marinette!!"

They near-screamed and jumped from the sudden call.

Nathaniel looked like he nearly had a heart attack.

There were visitors. Alya, Adrien, Nino, Rose, Juleka, and Tom and Sabine. Her best friend squeezed her tight, saying," We were so worried about you, girl!" She gave a rather sheepish laugh, feeling a bit guilty for making them worry so much. Nino playfully punched her in the arm, congratulating her for pulling through. Her eyes stopped on Adrien. They shared a smile, and she spotted his hand was bandaged up. Maybe he got hurt during the attack? Her parents were the happiest, Sabine hugging her daughter and almost refused to let go.

For a moment, she thought she saw a tear or two in the brim of her mother's eyes.

"Thank goodness you're okay! We heard about the operation and the blood shortage and-and--"

Sabine stopped.

They all turned their heads and stared at the red-head boy.

Nathaniel looked a bit awkward from the stares.

Marinette said," Nathaniel was the one who donated for me, Mama." In seconds, the woman hugged him tight, her husband saying," Thank you so much." "You're welcome," he responded, clearly being unable to hold back a smile. Alya looked at her, then back at Nathaniel, then back to Mari. A mischievous grin appeared on her face and nudged the bluenette with her finger. "What were you two doing before~?" He turned red, she blushed, but grabbed his hand. Their fingers intertwined.

"We're together now."

Everyone grinned. Juleka patted his back, saying," Congrats, man! You finally got your girl!" Rose hugged him. Alya and Nino were especially happy, seeing their friend has moved on and found another love. Adrien gave her the thumbs up, and said," It's good to see you happy again, Marinette." Her ex was happy for her. Everyone was happy for them. Her parents were glad to meet their future son-in-law. Tikki looked up at her from in her collar, smiling uncontrollably for her girl.

Nathaniel and Marinette smiled at eachother.

In this moment of bliss, something told her this was going to last a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Title: The Happy Ending.
> 
> Because everything is happy now and Nathanette is together.
> 
> If the last chapter killed you, hopefully this one brought you back to life.
> 
> I was considering writing an epilogue where they get married, but then I thought," Nah, this is fine."
> 
> This is the end of this fic, but chill cause I have lots more Nathanette ideas.
> 
> The next one I'm writing will sort of be like a prologue to this fic.
> 
> (Funny story: While I was googling the definition of the word Tousle to make sure I was using it correctly, the example google gave me was," Nathan's tousled hair appeared in the hatchway." That is one of the best coincidences I've ever experienced.)


End file.
